If We Could Stop Time
by UpAllNightWriting
Summary: When a terrorist plots his revenge on the whole Navy Yard and sets a deadline, can Team Gibbs catch the psycho in time? Or will everything go up in flames in three days? Tiva and McAbby.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello, reader! Ok, so this is my first fanfiction. I already have about six and a half chapters typed up, so I will be updating at least once a week. I have no clue as to how long it is going to be, but I think it might be kinda lengthy. Anyways, I really hope you enjoy it, because I've had a fun time writing it. ~UpAllNightWriting_

Jimmy Palmer woke up and looked at his clock. "7:30!" he said, "Oh no, this is not good. Dr. Mallard is going to kill me if I'm late again! Crap!" he worried aloud. He hopped into the shower and got out in record time. As he dried himself off, Jimmy smiled. He got his clothes out and laid them on the bed where his bride was sound asleep. His bride. Those words meant the world to Jimmy. As soon as he finished putting his tie on, something he had recently learned to do alone, he walked over to the beautiful Breena. He kissed her on the forehead and said, "I'll be back at six. If we catch a case, I'll call you." He imagined Breena heard him, but didn't register what he said because she was just starting to wake up. When Jimmy finished his meager breakfast of eggs and toast, he looked at the time. 7:49. He ran out to his car and got to the Navy Yard in 8 or 9 minuets. When he arrived, security was on a high alert. Palmer was used to that changing from time to time. After they cleared him, he headed straight for autopsy. As he burst through the doors, Dr. Mallard's expression reminded him of five years ago, when he heard of Jenny's death. "Who?" Jimmy asked, fear evident in his voice. He was scared out of his mind at the moment. He knew that his team's job was dangerous, and that anyone might be killed at anytime, but he still could, and would, never get used to the feeling. "No one... yet. Someone has planned an attack on the Navy Yard." Ducky sat down and sighed. "We have less than 76 hours to live."

Gibbs woke up to a bad dream. He never had bad dreams. Bad dreams were outlawed in the world of Gibbs. Yet, he had a bad dream. He got up from the frame of his latest woodworking project, a playhouse for his goddaughter, Amira, and looked around. He flashed back to seven years ago, when Ziva killed Ari. He looked at the spot where Ari died. Where Kate was avenged. When he saw instead, was something. A picture. With two numbers next to it, each one as frightening as the other. Gibbs never wanted to see that image again. But, he still knew exactly what it meant. His stomach was churning. No, that was his gut. Gibbs grabbed the picture and made for the stairs. He grabbed his gun and badge, ran out the door, and slammed his car door shut. He drove particularly fast, and probably caused a few wrecks on the freeway, but that didn't matter. He ran in past security, like usual, and made for Director Vance's office, who was having a video conference with the Secretary of the Navy. "Hello, sir. I'm very sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I believe there is a threat.""What kind of threat?" SecNav implored. "The kind we don't approve of.. Concerning many people." Gibbs responded."God, Gibbs, just spit it out." SecNav said, getting a little agitated. Vance spoke for the first time. "Gibbs, what the heck is going on?" Gibbs got a look on his face. The same one he got when Kate was killed. The same one he got when Tony told him Jenny was dead. "The threat is to us. The Navy." he sighed. "Someone has planned an attack on the Navy Yard. We have 76 hours."

Tony woke up and threw up. He rushed to the bathroom and stayed there until the sudden nausea had passed. Then he walked, slowly, back to his bed. He reached over to his chest next to his bed and accidentally dropped a few pieces of paper on the floor. Tony rolled over, so he could examine what had fallen down. It was the tickets he'd gotten earlier that week to a Wizards game on Saturday, four days from now. He tried to go back to bed, but he kept throwing up. Tony was sure he was sick. Soon after the fifth time he puked, he called McGee, "Hey, Probie! Want to go to the Wizards game on Saturday?" he asked, jokingly. Tony had already found some buddies to go with. "Tony, that's like four days from now. But... I do enjoy some basketball every now and then. Yeah, I'll go with you" he said, pausing a few times to cough. "I was kidding, McBasketball." Tony replied. "Oh, so you don't have any tickets?" Tim asked, probably trying to be smart. "No, I have better, cooler people to go with. Listen, that's not why I called. Tell the boss that I'm not going to be in until noon or so. I really don't feel good. Then he puked, right there on the phone. McGee told him that he wasn't feeling so great either. He said he woke up sweating and he had a fever. Tim's voice faded away, until Tony heard McGee hacking and he dropped the phone. Tony, however, clutched his phone in his hand and started yelling. "Tim? Tim, are you ok?" He was having a panic attack. Tim picked up the phone and started talking again."Tony, have you gone to the bathroom yet today?" "Yeah, as a matter of fact, my whole place smells like saltwater. It's pretty gr- Oh no. Tim, you gotta get down here. This is not good. I-I really don't feel so good." Tony was getting dizzy, and his apartment was spinning like the time he went drove down to Cincinnati while he was in collage. Cincinnati's Kings Island was home to The Beast, the longest wooden roller coaster n the world. It twisted, turned, and rattled its way through a forest on the out skirts of the small city. He thought he would never do that again, not on the world's longest wooden roller coaster or right now. But somehow he was. "Tony! Hang on, I'll be right there." Tim could hear Tony vomiting like crazy. He heard his partner's breath sharpen. He was in pain, Tim could tell. And, even though Tim wasn't exactly in his right mind, he believed his suspicions had been confirmed. They had both been poisoned.

_A/N: OOOH! Did I just go there? Heck yeah, man! So, what do you think so far? Reviews are greatly appreciated, so please please please let my know if you have any comments, questions, concerns, ect._


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow. First off, I just wanted to say a big giant THANKS! To everyone who has reviewed and subscribed to this story! I promise to make it as awesome as possible! Now, this chapter is a very interesting one. Nothing much happens... Except for the end... Kind of...**

**Disclaimer: I tragically do not own NCIS...**

The elevator opened, and Ziva walked out. She examined the squad room. Empty. Not even Gibbs was- No, wait, Gibbs was there. Somewhere. She looked up towards Vance's office and MTAC, where she saw Vance and Gibbs walk out with grim expressions on their faces. Gibbs grabbed his cell and called Ducky and Abby. Ziva's first thought was Tony and Tim. 'Where were they?' she wondered. "Gibbs!" she called up "What is going on? Where are DiNozzo and McGee?" Now Ziva was really worried and that wasn't part of her training. Training. She thought of her father, who she hadn't seen or talked to in a while.

A memory started to flood over her, but she shoved it into the back of her mind. She would save that for later. Just as she needed a distraction, Abby burst out of the other elevator. "McGee just called me, Gibbs! Like before you, but he still called me! He said he and Tony had been poisoned, and they need help fast. Tony is puking, I mean, I could hear him in the background, and Tim was hyperventilating, and -Ziva! Oh, Ziva I thought you were sick to, oh thank goodness your are ok." "Abby!" Gibbs interrupted, "What else did Tim say?" "Um... something about his computer and maybe security... national security! That was it. He told me someone was hacking into his computer, but before he could say anything else, I heard a clunk and I guess he dropped it, it being the phone, and then I guess he passed out too. He and Tony are lying on the floor of Tim's apartment. I wonder how Tim carried Tony all the way into his apartment, I mean not saying that Tony is like fat or anything, but- Oh, unless Tony wasn't unconscious before they got together. Oh my God, I just realized it! Oh, Gibbs! They need a hero right now. I- I can't lose any more of you, not now. Not today. Gibbs, you're their hero. You need to save them." "Abby, shhh. Calm down. Everything's gonna be ok." Gibbs said, putting his arm on her shoulder. "How do you know that they're on Agent McGee's floor?" Vance spoke.

Ziva had almost forgotten that the Director came down with Gibbs. "Because. I know the password to his computer. At first I was going to hack in, but then I realized that it's McGee, and I would never be able to tunnel through THAT firewall. So, I just typed in a few things I thought might be his password, and viola!" Abby concluded, taking a breath. "So, I accessed his webcam, and I can tell you a few things. One, there in really bad shape. Two, this type of poison kills really fast. Once you pass out, you die in an hour, unless you are given the antidote. Three, the antidote is carried at most hospitals." Abby was very nervous. Her hands were shaking, and she was talking much faster than usual. "Gibbs, they have 45 minuets to live"

Ducky hung up the phone and stared at his assistant, who had just walked in. "Who?" the young man asked. "No one... yet. A terrorist has planned an attack on the Navy Yard." he sighed. "We have 76 hours to live." Ducky said. "What?" Jimmy said in shock. "Jethro wants us up in the squadroom ASAP. Chop, chop Mr. Palmer!" He and Jimmy walked out of autopsy, and took the elevator up 2 floors. When they got there, however, there was only 4 people standing there, and two of them were gearing up. "Where are-" Ducky was cut off by Gibbs. "DiNozzo and McGee have been poisoned. Ziva and I are going over to get them to Bethesda." "What type of poison?" Jimmy asked. "Sodium florfosophine. Its an extremely dangerous compound of table salt. They have 40 minuets to live." Abby said, whirling over to face Jimmy.

Abby walked over to Tim's desk, where she sat down and put her head in her hands. Ducky walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. She started to cry as Ziva and Gibbs walked out of the squadroom. Gibbs stopped at the elevator. "Abby!" "Yeah?" she said, looking up. "Before we go in, is this thing contagious?" "No," she said, wiping the tears from her face. "You have to inhale it or eat it. Direct contact is ok." "Thanks, Abs." "Gibbs! Say it! Please. For me." Abby stood up. "I will bring our boys home. I will protect Ziva. Tony and Tim will be fine. We're gonna catch him." Gibbs said. He ran over, gave her a kiss on the forehead, then said "I have to go, Abby." and ran off into the closing elevator with Ziva. "Take care of yourself, Jethro!" "Just said I would, Duck." he heard Gibbs say as they heard the elevator whizz away. "I know. But the last time you said that, someone didn't come back. And the time before, you didn't have anyone to come back to."

Gibbs ran up to Tim's door and kicked it down, Ziva on his flank. He would worry about all the damages and commotion later. He looked around McGee's floor to find his two boys lying there, barley breathing. He looked to Ziva. She was overflowing with emotion. Ziva looked down at her watch. "30 minuets." she said. "Let's get them out of here." Gibbs said. "Who is heavier? I will take him." Ziva replied. Now, that wasn't an easy question. They were the same height, build, age... "Tony." Gibbs said, moving over to Tim. Ziva shuffled around to Tony and heaved him over her shoulder. She grunted. "I think you were right." she said, walking out the door. Gibbs grabbed Tim and put him over his shoulder as well. The cold, sweaty man on his back was disconcerting. His co worker, Tim McGee, who had grown as a man so much in the past 9 years, was literally dying in Gibbs' arms. And there was nothing he could do about it. Gibbs had the slightly amusing thought in the back of his mind that it would look very strange to any bystanders to see and old American man and a young Israeli girl caring two middle aged men on their backs. Ha. He just hoped that no one would call the police. That would certainly kill Tony and Tim. "Just lay them in the back seat" ordered Gibbs. She complied, and Tim was put on top of Tony. "Get in!" Gibbs said, turning the engine on.

Ziva hopped in the car, and Gibbs sped off. The two worried agents sped down the highway faster than Ziva had ever gone, Gibbs guessed. I mean, he'd gone faster, but, come on, he's Gibbs for crying out loud! He'd done a lot of crazy stuff in his lifetime, but thats what you get for joining the biggest little federal agency. But, even though they were easily doing 75 in a 55 mph zone, Gibbs and Ziva were both calm and collected as the cars whizzed by. Gibbs had gotten pretty good at weaving. But, in the deepest, darkest part of his mind, he was willing to admit that Ziva was much better at it than himself. Because Gibbs was going so fast, it surprised him when 10 minuets later, Ziva pointed at the Hospital sign. Gibbs clipped a few people, swerved, cut across 2 lanes, and almost spun out, but he turned and made the entrance. Even Ziva had to hold on. The doctors rushed Tim and Tony in on stretchers and all Gibbs and Ziva could do was stand there and watch as they were whisked away to be saved. Ziva looked longing into the distance, than up at Gibbs. Tears welled in her eyes as she shuffled closer to her father figure. As she approached him, she buried her head into the man's shoulder and began to cry.

**Awwwwww... It was so sad that Ziva cried! Now that had to be sad... I kinda modeled that last part after Hiatus when Abby and Jenny are looking down the hall into Trauma 1...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok... Bit of a problem with what happened in the finale. I was hoping I wasn't going to have to explain this, but oh well. Yeah, I know NCIS got blown up, but take it from me, I starting writing this thing in September with the whole explosion... Ask NCISElf. Just thought I'd put that out there as an extra disclaimer... Anyways... I really liked those first two chapters, I hope you did to. But heres a bit of erm... suspense? Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I tragically do not own NCIS...**

Tim woke up to the sound of a woman softly crying. Where was the sound coming from? The left? The right? He moved only his eyes, figuring that it would hurt to move any part of his body considering the amount of pain he was feeling in his head. He coughed hard and startled the mystery woman. "Wha-?" Another loud cough escaped the man's lips. "Where am I?" Tim said, looking at the beautiful woman leaning over him. Was that his girlfriend? She was very pretty. He recognized her, so maybe she was his girl. He was sure he'd seen her before. 'That would be awesome' Tim thought. He would have to tell his friends about his girlfriend. Or not. He'd probably already bragged about it, that is if she was his girlfriend. Wait. The more he studied her, the more he felt like he knew her. Not as his girlfriend. The tan skin, dark brown hair, large brown eyes, widow's peak. That's who it was!

Tim was proud of his minor, yet reassuring, accomplishment. At least he didn't have amnesia. "Ziva?" he said with no energy. It was all coming back to him now. "Tim! You're awake!" Ziva said, relief evident in her voice. She poked her head out the bland hospital room and called, "Gibbs! He's up!" A few seconds later, Tim's beloved boss walked in. "How's Tony?" Ziva asked, sounding much more worried. Instead of Gibbs answering, he walked over to his Junior Field Agent, trying vainly to sit up. "No. Lie down," Gibbs said, putting a hand on Tim's shoulder. Tim had learned to stand up for himself over the years, but he didn't really want to sit up in the first place. So, he sunk back into the bed, enveloping himself in covers.

"How are you doing, McGee?" Gibbs said, taking a seat in one of the visitors chairs and scooting it up next to the bed. "I- I guess I'm ok." Tim said as he examined his body for anything wrong. His wrist was wrapped in a bandage, and there was a large bandaid on his other elbow. "Oh." Tim said, holding it up to look at it further. "Yep. Doctor's says its only sprained. I think you'll live." Gibbs said with a small smile. Tim, being the skilled investigator he is, realized the hesitation in the older man's voice. "That poison's pretty nasty," Tim said, slurring his words a bit at the end. "Any idea who did this?" "No, but I don't think we'll ever find out. At least not for a few days." Gibbs said, looking up at Ziva. The two mutes were communicating telepathically. Like they had an empathy link or something. Tim found it very fascinating."It's national security, right? This threat thing is about national security?" Tim implored "You tell him, Ziva. I'm gonna go check on DiNozzo." Gibbs said as he stood up and walked out of the room.

Ziva sat down and looked Tim in the eye. "Tim, someone has planned an attack on the Navy Yard." she said tersely. "Our Navy Yard?" Tim gulped. His mind was racing, looking for solutions, people on the NCIS, FBI, CIA, NSA, CGIS, DOD, ICE, CID, DEA, and Homeland Security watch lists, among other armed federal agencies. Ziva looked down at her watch. It was almost 11:00am. "Tim, if this goes through, in about 73 hours, we will be lying in a pile of rubble, dead." "B- Bomb?" Tim said very shakily. Ziva only nodded in response. She could tell it was hitting him hard, but he needed somebody to be straight up with him. Ziva felt that she was that person. "Oh no.. This- This is bad. Is Abby back at HQ?" Tim asked again. Then something hit him. "Wait, I've been unconscious for 3 hours?" he asked, surprised. He didn't think he'd ever been out for that long before. Comes with the territory, he supposed. Then a smiled dashed across Ziva's face. "You should probably call her." Ziva said, reaching for Tim's phone. He grabbed it as it landed on his lap and pushed #3 on his speed dial. Just as the phone started to ring, Gibbs burst in. "Tony's awake. Stable." Ziva jumped up and started to head out. Then she looked back at her friend and debated internally. "Go, Ziva. I'll be fine. I've got Abby." Tim said pointing and shaking the phone in his hand lightly. Ziva ran out of the room, leaving Tim alone for the first time since he'd gotten up.

"TIM!" Abby literally yelled loud enough for the nurses to her out side the room. "Hey, Abbs! I wanna tell you something." Tim said, sweating. Either these covers were really warm, or there was still some poison in his system. He hoped the former was true, but knowing his team's luck, it was probably poison. "That poison was pretty bad stuff." he continued, hotter than before. Tim realized that was probably wasn't the right word to use. The heart monitor at his side was slowly going up. He just hoped that it wouldn't peak and more doctors would come in. Tim, like many others, hated hospitals and doctors. But not with a passion. That was more Tony's thing.

"Yeah. There's a lot of different effects it can have on people" Abby said, surprisingly elated. "What happened to you?" she spoke again, curious. "Why do you want to know?" Tim asked slowly, a little confused. "Oh, well I was going through old reports, files, and CDs and one of them was unfinished. But it was about the multiple effects of florfosophine on the human body. I read over what I had so far, and well... I wanted to finish it after all this happened. So, what happened to you?" Abby concluded, sucking in air. "Well, I threw up a lot..." Tim answered, trying to remember what happened before he blacked out. But it all came back in flashes. So fast, so short, he could barely remember them.

"And I... I think I was hallucinating at one point..." "Why do you think that?" Abby asked. "Well. It's fuzzy, but I think I remember something about talking to my Aunt Joan and Uncle Fred." he said "So.. why is that unusual?" Abby asked. "They died 4 years ago in a car crash." Tim said, trying once more to remember things. "Oh. I'm sorry. Were you close to them?" Abby responded to the sad news. "No. Most of my family pretty much turned their backs on me when I joined NCIS and not the Navy or the Marines. Or any military force, for that matter." Tim said, pushing off some covers with his feet. He was starting to feel a little sleepy.

"Abby, I'm gonna get some rest. I'm getting tired." He stifled a yawn as he spoke. Stupid poison. 'Probably a relapse' Tim thought, slightly worried for his safety. And Tony's. If they both had bad relapses... Tim didn't want to think about that. "Ok, but you can't die, alright? You didn't ask Gibbs... or me," the worried scientist said as she hung up. "Bye." Tim said, eyes already closed. "Bye" Abby said and hung up the phone. And with that, Tim fell into a light sleep plagued with nightmares he couldn't wake up from.

Tony's vision was blurry. He heard things, but the people around him were... speaking a different language almost. Or maybe he couldn't understand their english. Maybe they were martians. Maybe he was on an alien ship. Aliens. 'Great movie,' thought Tony. I wonder if they have all of the movies ever made about aliens on board? What a great marathon that would be. He blinked and the voices became a little clearer. The figure, maybe an alien, still hadn't moved, so he figured he hadn't discovered to be awake. He tried to look around as his vision cleared a little bit. Their were familiar things around him. Flowers, huge ones, were looking at him.

There were also numerous machines around him. He heard is heart beat on the EKG and tried to find something to say. Tony wasn't sure if he was on an alien spaceship, even if those did exist, but he wasn't going to accuse someone of being an alien unless he was absolutely sure. He sputtered and started coughing. The coughing turned to hacking, and then he felt a hand helping him to sit up, patting his back, getting the last bit of spit up out of his throat. He laid back down and heard the voice speak to him. "Tony! Tony, are you alright?" Ok, so he wasn't on an alien spaceship. Good. But how did these people know his name? Tony tried to respond, and this time he managed to get out, "Where am I? What's going on?". The voice became sharper, his vision wasn't as clouded, and he could tell he was in a hospital.

Ugh. Tony hated hospitals. And needles. And rats. He looked up at the older man staring down at him. That's when he thought he realized who it was, Tony became very excited "Dad?" Tony said, hoping he didn't say that to somebody else. "Is that you, dad?" He half expected to hear 'Junior, what happened? Are you alright? Do you need anything? I'm so sorry this happened!' But he didn't. Not a single word came from the man's mouth. 'Then it could be only one person' Tony thought as he racked his confused and messed up brain for answers. "Gibbs? That you, Boss?" Tony asked. He tried to sit up, but was pushed back down by a firm hand on his chest. It was his boss. He smiled. At least Gibbs cared about him. "Lie down, DiNozzo." Gibbs said. A nurse came in. Wow. She was pretty. Tony put on his 'DiNozzo's Charm' face as his father had once called it and smiled. "He has some minor physical injuries and a slight concussion, but we gave him painkillers so he should be ok for the next couple of hours." the nurse looked at Tony, then walked out as quickly as she had walked in. So, Tony tried to sit up again. Gibbs caught him and pushed him down again, but a little harder. He bent down and whispered in Tony's ear "Be brave Anthony. It's not over yet." The words became very cold as they reached Tony's brain. Was he dying? No, Gibbs would have told him straight up. Or would he? He pondered this for a moment. Gibbs had never ever called him Anthony. Was that bad?

Then he could no longer think. The searing pain in his body made him screw up his face until he was sure nothing was where it should be. He started to writhe as the pain spread to his neck, then his chin, then his whole head. He wanted to cry out, to scream, but he had to be strong, be brave. For Gibbs and Ziva. For Abby and Tim. Even for Ducky and Jimmy. So he didn't. As Tony lie there, feeling very lightheaded and nauseous, he started to slip away. His face relaxed and his eyes started to roll into the back of his head. 'So this is how it all ends,' he thought. 'This isn't how I wanted to die! Not here, not now.' Tony realized he was in a dark tunnel, with two passages. He saw a light on one side, with three people standing there, waving and smiling at the dying, or dead for all he knew, agent. "Mom! Kate, Jenny! I miss you guys so much... Kate. You really should meet Ziva. She's great. And McGee, he's actually standing up for himself now. He's grown so much in the past seven years. He doesn't get green at crime scenes anymore." he said, inaudible to anybody else. "Bambino. Go back. This isn't your time, sweetie. I love you." his mother said.

Then Kate spoke. "I miss you. All of you. And I know Ziva's great. Tell Timmy that I'm proud of him. Who knew our little Probie had a sister? It surprises me about all the stuff I never got to know about all of you. It makes me sad, but now I'm watching over you guys. You're still just as funny, Tony. But your mom's right. Not now." She smiled her sweet smile and it made Tony feel sad. Finally, Jenny spoke. "Tony, it's not your fault. It never was. I hope you know that now." she said. "I do, Jenny. I do." Tony replied, almost crying. He looked away. On the other side he saw his team, his friends. Gibbs and Ziva almost crying, Tim lying in a hospital bed sound asleep, Abby crying in a corner of her lab, Ducky and Jimmy in the squadroom. Tony took one last look at both of them and made his decision. He turned and walked to the right and smiled. "Tony's back." he said.

**Soooooo? What did you think? Reviews are always appreciated! I don't know about you, but I can totally imagine Tony saying that. And Kate watching over them... think I cried while I was writing that part. Anyways. Next chapter is very funny... Hope you like!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok.. I kinda lied. It's not funny until the end. I love Tony... And the last part mentions the middle finger if that makes anybody uncomfortable... Just a warning**

**Disclaimer: I tragically do not own NCIS...**

Ziva couldn't believe what she was seeing. Tony, flopping on his bed like a fish out of water. She turned to face Gibbs, who did the same. "McGee." they both said simultaneously. They ran in, leaving Tony to the nurses and doctors who started piling in. Ziva burst into Tim's room, only to find him sitting up, talking to Abby about the molecular structure of deep ocean organisms, "I gotta go" Tim said, not waiting for a response on the other end. "What's going on?" Ziva told him and Tim started to jump out of bed. There were two problems with that though. One, he did it so fast he got lightheaded and almost fell before Gibbs could catch him, and two, he was only wearing boxers with turkeys on them. After all, it was Thanksgiving soon. But Tim wasn't even embarrassed in the slightest. Gibbs stood him upright, and Ziva grabbed the wheelchair next to his bed and wheeled it over to Tim. They sat the younger man down and took him into Tony's room. Ziva figured that he would want to see Tony now that he was up, but she wasn't sure what he'd be like when they returned.

The nurse let them go in, and Ziva wheeled Tim right next to the bed where Tony, who was looking perfectly fine except for the tubes running to his nose suppling him oxygen, sat upright. She saw Gibbs asking the nurse what happened, and saw that Tim had heard their boss as well. "What does he mean? Wh- What happened to Tony?" the distraught man said, sounding like a young boy looking after his hurt older brother. Ziva admired their relationship. It was different from almost anything she'd ever seen. They were brothers at heart. "Well, I am not sure...ask Gibbs," Ziva responded, not sure what to tell him. "Um... guys, you know I am right here?" Tony said, sounding slightly annoyed. "Tony!" they both said. "So, what happened?" Tim asked, wanting an answer this time. "Well... I-," Tony hesitated, "I died. I think." He said profoundly. Tony told them of the two paths, how he saw his mother, Kate, and Jenny on the left, and his team and what they were doing at that moment on the right. "And... well I chose you guys! So you better never take me for granted again!" Tony concluded.

"Tony, we've never taken you for granted," Tim said. "Do you know how many times you've almost died? I've lost count..." he trailed off, chuckling. He coughed a bit at the end. Ziva didn't mention the tiny bit of blood rolling down his cheek. Tony saw it too, but decided not to comment about it. "Oh, really, Probie? It's only been like 3 times." Tony said, defensively. The mask was in play now. Tony's head was still throbbing, and he was sure McGee wasn't feeling his best either. 'Well of course not, DiNozzo! He's coughing up blood!' "Just now, when you got the plague, when your car blew up, when you were hanging from that parking garage wall, when we were in Somalia, when that creep Stratton shot at you, when that grill blew up, I could go on but my brain hurts too much." Tim said, ticking them off on his hands. "Whatever," Tony mumbled. Ziva laughed. The nurse and Gibbs walked over. Tim directed his attention to the nurse and cleared his throat. "Um, I know florfosophine can have various effects, but why did we both have relapses?" Tim asked. The nurse looked at him like 'Seriously? Could you have given me a more difficult question?' and started to respond, "Well, it varies greatly on personal things. Hygiene, eating habits, family history," she trailed off. "I eat well." Tim responded. "And so do I!" Tony almost yelled. "No, you do not! Yesterday, you had coffee and a doughnut for lunch! Who does that?" Ziva burst out. "Sorry," she said, realizing she had spoken a bit rashly. "But I have a well-balanced diet. He doesn't" Tim said, gesturing to Tony. "Of course you do, McHealthy." Tony said jokingly.

"If DiNozzo's spitting out nicknames for McGee, I think he's better." Gibbs said, returning to his normal slightly humorous, yet very functional mute personality. "I agree." Tim growled, trying to hint that he had been put down by the remark. Ziva also relaxed a bit. It was like there was a rain cloud above their heads, and by Tim and Tony walking up, the cloud was force over someone else's head. For the time being, at least. Once Tony was briefed on their situation, and Gibbs finally got the two men out of the hospital, the reality of their situation settled in, as did the cloud. They had less than 3 days to shut down a terrorist operation, or they would all die. They had a job to do.

Gibbs had Ziva drive, seeing as he drove there, and DiNozzo and McGee were in no shape to be driving yet. "Jeez, Ziva. I didn't think anyone could beat my record for getting to the Navy Yard from the hospital" Gibbs smiled. "Yeah, really Ziva. I've already survived poison today, I would hate to die in a car crash! Hey, this is like that movie with-" Tony tried to add before Ziva abruptly cut him off. "I swear, if you quote another movie today, I will kill us all!" she replied, obviously annoyed. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry!" Tony replied. "So, what do we know about the terrorist?" Tim asked, wanting to get started right away. "Nothing." Gibbs said, "That's what you three are going to find out." he finished. Gibbs looked in the rear view mirror and saw Tony and Tim exchange a glance that clearly stated 'I knew he was gonna say that'. "Ziva if you don't slow down even a little bit, I will steal the wheel from you." Gibbs said, looking at the dashboard. The speedometer read 97, the fastest the Mercedes could go. "Fine. I will slow down." she replied, easing upon the gas. Gibbs returned his attention to the cars that were still whizzing by. He glanced back at the dash and smiled when he saw she had slowed down to 95. 'Atta girl' Gibbs thought.

"Seriously?" Tony was complaining already. "2 miles per hour? That's what you call slowing down?" Tony yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. Nothing happened for a few minuets or so, until Ziva had had enough of Tony telling Tim about the movie 'Coming To America' with an actor Gibbs vaguely recognized as Eddie Murphy, she had reached back to slap him and they almost hit a biker. But luckily, Gibbs caught the wheel just in time and the biker only flicked them off. Tony, not wanting to be out done, put both of his middle fingers up and rolled down the window screaming "Take that you loser! I can put both hands up and not kill myself!" Then Tim leaned forward and quietly asked "Did they give him painkillers?" All Gibbs and Ziva did was nod. Tim tried to pull Tony back into the car, but that didn't work out very well since he was only able to use on hand, so Ziva started to roll up his window so he was forced to come back into the car. She then put the child lock on the door, and locked the window as well. And by the time that had happened, Gibbs had already reached his hand back, silently, and slapped Tony so hard that he actually screamed. Tim and Ziva stifled laughs, and Tony started grumbling. That caused him to shut up for the remainder of the ride, and everybody, thankfully, got back in one piece.

**Again, I can absolutely imagine Tony doing that if he was on painkillers. Oh, DiNozzo. Your antics that I write up amuse me.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok. Why don't we just pretend that Vance doesn't know about Ari, like he said he did in either 6x25 Aliyah or 7x02 Reunion... Not sure which one it is. If anybody knows, that would be awesome because it's gonna bug me until I find out which one it is. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I tragically do not own NCIS...**

Vance called out his open door. "Cynthia, could you please call Agent Gibbs up?" When he got no response, he grew slightly annoyed. "Cynthi-" He was cut off when the very man he was looking for strutted in. "You should treat your assistant nicer." he said, walking so he stood directly in front of Vance. "Gibbs, you know that you're probably the best agent NCIS has. Clayton and I both trust you, to some extent. So, when you interrupted our conference this morning, we had no choice to believe you. I just got off the phone with Jarvis and he wants to a reason now. I told him I'd get back to him. So, Special Agent Gibbs, enlighten me." Vance concluded his mini-speech.

"Have you heard of the Ari Incidents?" Gibbs asked. Vance had not heard of the Ari Incidents, but Gibbs didn't like them. He gritted his teeth and his eyes filled with fire when he said the name. "No. What are they?" "The Ari Incidents, as they are now referred to, started 9 years ago. A terrorist named Ari Haswari infiltrated NCIS in a body bag. He took Dr. Mallard, his former assistant, Gerald, and former NCIS Special Agent Caitlyn Todd hostage. He shot Gerald in the shoulder joint and shot myself in the arm. He escaped." Gibbs said, getting a very pained look on his face.

The name Caitlyn Todd rang a bell, but Vance couldn't put his finger on it. "That was incident 1." Gibbs tacked on. "How many incidents were there?" Vance asked, hoping that this wasn't going to be a long story. "Five." Gibbs answered immediately. "Two are irrelevant to this situation." he continued. "The second incident we don't need to discuss. The third incident happened a year and two days after that. On May 24, 2005, Ari Haswari shot Special Agent Caitlyn 'Kate' Todd in the head."

Gibbs looked up from the floor. Vance swore if he hadn't been here, Gibbs would be crying. And the name, Kate Todd. That's who she was. The news spread to San Diego, where Vance was stationed at the time, pretty quick. It was a sad day, but he remembered it well. He was with a few of his old friends who were now at OSP. Hetty and G told him the news. That night, a service was held in her honor at every major office in the U.S. A few agents working over seas joined in via video conference.

Vance thought that after this thing was over, if they got out alive, he would tell that story to Gibbs' team. "The fourth incident was the next day." Gibbs paused. "And the fifth Incident?" Vance asked, edging Gibbs on. "This can't get out. Only two people know." Gibbs said, a bit worried. "I won't tell." Vance put the room into SCIFF mode and said, "Talk." "The fifth and final Ari Incident was when he was shot and killed. In my basement." "You killed him?" Vance asked. "No." Gibbs replied. "Then who did?" Vance asked, curious. "We both know her." Gibbs said. "Her?"

"Mossad Officer Ziva David killed her half brother, Ari Haswari." Gibbs finally blurted out. All Vance could do was stare. He was beyond shocked. "Our Ziva?" "Yes, Leon, our Ziva. The story we released was completely different. No one else knew until now. My point is this. I woke up this morning in my basement and got up. When I looked at the spot where he died, like I do every morning, I saw this." Gibbs took out a picture and tossed it on his desk. It was a picture of a man who was middle eastern. He had a cynical and sadistic smile on his face and was wearing scrubs with a gun pointed at the camera. "Ari?" Vance guessed, even though he already knew the answer. "Yep. The numbers- 1200 and 72. Twelve noon and seventy two. The red X on his face might mean bigger and badder than anything he ever did. And this. I found it on the passenger seat of my car." Gibbs pulled out a note. It read-

Special Agent Gibbs,

You don't know me, but I know your team. Anthony, Timothy, Ziva, Abigail, Donald, and Jim. They are all going to die, Leroy. In fact, the whole Navy Yard is going to die. If you start to evacuate, I will blow the whole place up. If you start to search for the bomb, I will blow the whole place up. However, I am going to let you search for me. No more than five people are allowed off the base at a time starting at 12:00pm May 22, 2012 . The same goes for people entering. I will be watching. The next three days are going to be your last, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. I hope you have fun.

Your Friend,

Agent Orange

"So this is it. You just believe him?" "Well, yeah, Leon. I value my life. And the lives of everyone on this campus." Vance and Gibbs stared at each other for at least a minute. "I'll call SecNav. Get back to work, Agent Gibbs." Vance said, giving in to the Gibbs Stare. "Will do." And with that, Gibbs left. Vance sighed and picked up the phone. "This is going to be a long talk."

Abby almost screamed at her computer, but Gibbs and Tim walked in and stopped her. She turned the music down because she knew Gibbs was the only one who minded her loud music, and said "Hey Gibbs." She spun around and saw Tim standing next to Gibbs. This time, Abby did scream. "TIMMY! YOU'RE BACK!" she said as she ran up and jumped on him.

Her favorite man in the world was all sweaty and cold at the same time, but she didn't care. He obviously had some more recovering to do. Abby did care when she heard Tim wince. She let go and asked what she did wrong. "Um.. nothing, Abby. You did nothing wrong. I just sprained my wrist, that's all." he said very calmly. "Oh poor Timmy! I'm so sorry!" She moved back in and began to hug him again. In fact, she hugged him for so long that Gibbs took a hint and left the two friends in the lab alone, still clinging to one another.

After a minuet or so, Abby let go and told McGee what she was doing. "Ok, so I have like ten windows up that I saved for you to hack into, there on your secondary computer." "Aw, thanks Abbs!" Tim sarcastically said as he made his way over to the computer waiting for him.

"Because I just love hacking..." Tim sighed. Abby knew that he wasn't very fond of hacking because it wasn't exactly justified most of the time. Gibbs' gut wasn't a reliable reason to hack like they were doing now. "Some of these people were in deep dark trouble. Like cave trouble." Abby said, her pigtails flailing about as she turned to face Tim. "It's good to have you back, Timmy." she said, smiling wide. Then, all of the sudden, impulse took over and Abby Scuito did the most unexpected, unprecedented, crazy thing she might've ever done in her life. So, being Abby, she leaned in and kissed Tim.

Tim was almost sure he had died in that hospital and gone to heaven. Because that's where he was now. Heaven was a blissful place. It was wonderful and perfect and he loved it. But, as he slowly deflated and came back down to Earth, Tim felt almost- oh, what was a good word- renewed? No. Happy? Certainly not. This was much more than just plain old happiness. Rejuvenated? Maybe. Elated? Overjoyed? Yes, elated and overjoyed would fit.

Timothy Howard McGee was elated. Flying high. On cloud nine. Every expression that was like that, that's what Tim felt at that moment. I mean, sure, he'd kissed Abby before, but the last time they legitimately kissed was around ten years ago. Once he finished his thoughts on Abby, Tim promised himself two things in his head. One, he would catch this guy and bring him down. He would do it alone if he had to. But he wouldn't have to, Tim knew that. Two, he vowed to protect Abby for as long as they were together and as long as they worked together.

So, with his new found confidence, (and Gibbs' orders) Tim set off to hack into the FBI, CIA, NSA, CGIS, DOD, DEA, ICE, CID, and Homeland Security. Looking at the list he wrote down, he realized CGIS would tell him anything he wanted to know, plus Tim doubted they knew much useful information. One down, eight to go. After Abby called Tony down, the awkward mood was replace with Tony's playful banter about things only he cared about, like girls and actors and actresses and his fraternity brothers, but nothing about movies. Tim was almost worried that Tony hadn't quoted any movies yet because he'd been down there for at least ten minuets.

Abby obviously had the same thought because a few minuets later, she asked, "This remind you of any movies, DiNozzo?" "Of course it does! There have only been a million movies made about situations like this!" He said, frustrated. "Then why haven't you said anything about it?" Tim asked. "Because Ziva threatened me" He murmured. But Tim still heard it. "What's that DiNozzo? Tim asked, glad he finally had something to make fun of him for. "Ziva threatened me, ok! She said that if that said anything more about movies, she would use the 18th move on me! Then she pulled out a paperclip out! 'Oh how I'm going to enjoy this' Tim thought and continued tormenting him. "So, Ziva intimidates you?" "PROBIE! Get back to work!" Tony said as he ran off to the ballistics lab to sulk.

"Nice job, Timmy." Abby said. "Yeah, he'd been doing it to me for 9 years, he had it coming." After a few minuets, Tony cooled down and came out of the ballistics lab, holding Bert in his arms. He squeezed him hard, and a gigantic fart came out. Tim was pretty sure Gibbs heard it in the squadroom. "You guys have anything yet?" "Patience, young pad o wan!" Abby said, letting Tony know that movie references were welcomed. "Woah. I think I've got something! Guys!" Tim said. "McGee, go." Gibbs said right on cue. "Boss, his name's Jeremy Hudson. Wanted in 7 states for various crimes. Arson, robbery, and Grand Theft Auto are his main crimes, but he has done somethings with explosives before." Tim said, pausing to et a breath. "GTA. Great video game. I prefer the 3rd version the most, but I can still go-" Tony said before Gibbs whacked him on the head. "Now, I don't know where he is now, but I have found some relatives. Caroline and Mason Hudson. Their in England right now for a Show Choir Competition."

"DiNozzo, go talk to Vance, pick 'em up." Gibbs ordered. "On it boss! Tony said. "Take Ducky." All three did a double take. "Ducky knows England better than anyone else. We can't waste time on this. Tony will get lost." Gibbs said when he saw his team's expressions. Tim thought that made sense. "Alright, I'll get The Duck Man. Tony said, still a little bit confused. "What else do you have, McGee?" "Well, boss, according to this, he's got a couple identities, too. One of them is Noah Wilson." "Spit it out McGee!" Gibbs sounded impatient. "Wilson flew into D.C. yesterday. He came in at noon, then left today at three a.m. Boss, our suspect was here."

**And that was the McAbby! I love them. What do you think? And as you might guess, they are in an understood relationship... So they're not technically breaking rule twelve... but they are at the same time. I'm not sure. I thought about it for some time and i'm still confused. Let's call it a working relationship, but it's like an awesome working relationship... What do you think it is? Should I add some Tiva or not? Reviews are always appreciated!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow. First off, I want to give a huge huge thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing and following the story... I really appreciate it! Thanks so much! And now i bring you a fairly eventful chapter... The last two or three paragraphs are really full of emotion. And I did make up the poetry/proverb thingy Ducky says when he is on the airstrip. I suck at poetry, though. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I tragically do not own NCIS...**

Ducky was startled by the door opening. He looked over at a nervous Jimmy, just to be sure it wasn't he who was walking in. "I'm sorry, Jethro, but I have nothing for you." The man said, not looking up. "It's Tony, Ducky. Gibbs wants us to pick some people up. vance is borrowing some other agencies' jet. Ten bucks says it's Fornell's and he just sent it over to brag." Tony said, mostly to himself.

"What should I do while you're gone, Doctor?" Jimmy sounded like a little boy being left home alone for the first time. "Oh, yeah, Palmer. Gibbs said he wants you up in the Squadroom ASAP." Tony added on. The pair walked out of autopsy, and made their way up to the front entrance of the building. As they walked out in to the chilly evening air, Ducky noticed something. No one was there. The only lights they saw were coming from buildings. There were no cars on the street. No one was outside excluding their flight crew, who were prepping for take off.

Tony led Ducky to the airstrip on the Navy Yard, where a brand new NCIS jet was sitting, waiting for them. It had the agencies' seal on the side. Tony looked like he was about to explode. "What! I can't believe it! We got our own jet! This is incredible! We, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the biggest little federal agency in the good old US of A finally have our own private jet! No more borrowing from other agencies or those horrible cargo planes Gibbs likes." Tony shouted into the sunset.

Although the sunset was indeed beautiful, it reminded Ducky of an old poem he read in elementary school. At the time, it didn't seem so disturbing, him being a medical examiner and all, but today. Today it seemed most appropriate in this situation. It almost scared him.

'The sunset blood red, when you wake up you will dread. For the sunset blood red most certainly means dead.'

The sunset was, indeed, blood red. Ducky sighed and looked down at his cobalt blue watch. "We should probably hurry up, Anthony. We've only got 67 hours."

Jimmy ran as fast as he could up to the squadroom for two reasons. One, he was afraid, no terrified, of Gibbs. Two, because he was glad he was finally being informed about what was going on. At least, that's what he hoped was going on. In fact, Jimmy was in such a hurry, he didn't want to wait for the elevator. He ran up two floors, sixteen flights, and three hundred forty seven steps. When he ran into the squadroom, panting so hard that everyone looked at him, he could tell something was wrong.

"Ah... Tony said you wanted me up here, Special Agent Gibbs?" Jimmy asked in a questioningly tone. He hoped tony wasn't pulling his leg on this one. If he was, Jimmy would defiantly have to get him back. "Yeah, Palmer. We need your help with something." Gibbs said, standing up. "With what?" Jimmy asked, curious. He was pretty sure his only talents or specialties were autopsies, animals, and that weird thing he could do with the flaming piece of wood. Breena had laughed so hard when he did that. OH, Breena. Jimmy wished he could be with her right now.

Gibbs' voice brought him back to reality. "Something." he simply replied. Tim clicked the clicker, and Gibbs' e-mail popped up on the plasma. 'Woah, does he even use his e-mail?' Jimmy thought. There was three hundred eighty two unread messages in his inbox. The funny thing was, there was a total of three hundred ninety messages in his inbox. Tim clicked on the first message, one that had actually been opened. A video link showed up and Tim opened it up.

Jimmy stared at the screen for a second, then almost fell on the ground. Instead, he controlled himself and squatted down. He ran his fingers through his hair, like he did when he was really nervous or in trouble. Jimmy buried his head in his hands. "Is that her, Jimmy?" Gibbs said very gently. He helped the stricken man up and over to a chair. Jimmy was in shock and tears were coming down his face at twenty miles an hour. Tony's desk was almost covered in water by now. Jimmy was bawling, to say the least. But he was strong. He didn't make a sound. Jimmy tried to muster the courage to even look up again. He did it, and responded to Gibbs' question very slowly.

"Yes-yes that's her. I'm p- positive." he stared at the desk once more, not wanting to look at the plasma ever again. For, the video on the screen depicted something that Jimmy wanted more than anything not to happen. Something that he tried so hard not to happen. Who wants to torture the Autopsy Gremlin? The video was of Breena, strapped to a chair, bleeding, bruised, crying, and screaming one thing over and over again. One name. "Jimmy!"

Ziva had to look away. She had never seem someone so emotional before. It was just too heartbreaking. One of Tony's old copies on GSM was sopping wet. She started to try and find something to busy her idle hands with, but fond nothing. McGee had sent practically every thing they had down to Abby for analysis and reports.

A hush had fallen over the whole floor. Phones had stopped ringing. People stopped talking. Machines stopped buzzing or whirring or what ever sound they made, they stopped making it. Every one was looking over at the horrific sight on the plasma. They whole building knew of the happy couple's plans, and many were invited. Ziva decided to do one thing. Something she could hardly ever let herself do.

Flashback. Eighteen years ago. Thali walking on the side of the road. Ari and myself on the other side. A car pulls up up ahead. A man gets out. I look closely at him. Screaming, "THALI! GET OUT OF THERE!" But she doesn't hear in time. She reached the man, he pushes a button. Ari and I watch, from a bush. Fire, explosion. I scream, Ari pulls me back and holds me in his arms. I cry for the first time in my life.

Flashback. Seven years ago. Ari holds a Marine sniper rifle in his hand. I crouch at the door, silently waiting. Gibbs throws his hands up a and sits down. "I've killed enough men in my life, Ari. It's gonna be just sweet watching you die." Ari holds up the gun. My finger is on the trigger, waiting. Bang. The shot rings out. Gibbs walks over, I walk down the steps. He walks away, I sit down. I sing our favorite lullaby. The title translated into English would be something like 'Sleep in Peace, Tomorrow Will Come'. I cry for the second time in my life.

Flashback. Four years ago. Me, driving, talking, more like yelling, to Hadar. I look up at my window. The light is on, two men are in view, fighting. Running. Gunshot. Rushing in. Michael, slowly dying. Blood. Tony, gun in his hand, grimacing in pain. Myself, yelling at Tony. The one I care for. My partner. The hospital. Tony going in one direction, Michael in another. Who to follow? My best friend, my partner, or the one I care for. I rush after Michael. Surgery. Waiting. A doctor. Words exchanged. Bad news. Horrible news. Michael is dead. Late the next night, I sit in bed, listening to the saddest music I could find. Me, crying for the third time in my life. Flash-forward.

Jimmy was still crying, but he seemed a bit more composed now. No. No one should ever have to suffer the way she had. Plus, Jimmy and Breena were happy. They were getting married. Ziva was happy for them. She picked up her work line. Should she really do this? Yes, she should. It is only fair. Ziva dialed the number.

"Shalom." She said into the phone. "Shalom, Ziva." the thick accented Eli David says back. "Why are you calling me so late?" "There has been a terrorist attack planned on the Navy Yard." Ziva responded. "Then come home, to me." Eli replied. "No. I cannot go back there. I do not belong in Israel." "Then why do you call?" Eli asked. He'd heard those words before, yet they stung like poison every time.

"To- to say goodbye. This case is not getting anywhere, and we only have two days left before the whole place is incinerated. I just wanted to tell you that I love you, so very much. I miss you." Ziva said, tears welling in her own eyes. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but Goodbye, Ziva, my love. And if, no when, you get out of this, I will come to visit. I promise. You can hold me to it." Her father said. "I have to go now, angel. I love you. Shalom."

Angel. Ziva had not been called that since she was a little girl, before she completed her training. After that, she was nicknamed warrior. But angle had sentimental value. It held memories, things of a past life, a past person. One she loved, one she missed. The line went dead, and Ziva put the phone back in its rightful place on her desk. She spoke in a whisper, only to herself. "I cannot believe I said that either."

**ZIVA! I just want to give you a hug! And Jimmy, too. especially Jimmy. I know it's cruel, but I felt like nothing ever happens to Jimmy, so I made something happen. There you go. Poor Tony. When he finds out about his copy of GSM, I think he might cry more than Jimmy did... Let me know what you think! Reviews are always appreciated!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Next Chapter everyone! Sorry it's kind of short, I just didn't want to keep you waiting for like two weeks, which is almost how long its been. Sorry about that. An update on the whole story... I've got 11 chapters written so far, so the updates will be regular for a while. I realized that the story has been moving kind of slow for it being a three day time period, so I've sped things up just a little bit to give you the sense of time passing because that was confusing me a little bit... So anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I tragically don't own anything at all...**

Tony was pleasantly surprised by the interior of the jet. It had a 32 inch plasma TV, he guessed, leather seats, a sweet bathroom, and a mini refrigerator stocked full of food for their short flight. Just as he and Ducky sat down and started to get comfortable, Tony's work phone went off. He looked at the caller ID and sighed. Gibbs. Of course. He knew this could be too good to be true. Gibbs wanted him to call it off and get his butt back to the building. But, he picked up the phone anyway. "Boss?" Tony said, bracing for the worst.

"DiNozzo. Jimmy's fiance's been kidnaped." "Breena? Holy crap! That's- that's terrible! How's he holding up?" Tony asked, shocked. "Not so good." Gibbs replied. Then Tim spoke. "I'm sending the location to your phone. I finally traced it back to England. It wa-" "You find her first, then pick up our sources. Got it, DiNozzo?" Gibbs said, cutting Tim off. "Got it, Boss." Tony said. "You've got two hours when you touch down. Have you taken off yet?" Gibbs asked. He sounded rushed. Tony looked out the window. He saw the NCIS building, and saw the tiny squadroom window. And maybe, just maybe, he saw the ant figure in the window that was Gibbs.

"Nope. Ducky's still fighting with the pilot. He wants them to take us to a certain airport, but they say that they can't do that. I'm pretty sure he won't stop pestering them until they agree." "Make them agree faster." Gibbs said and hung up. "Oh, Gibbs." Tony said, sighing and smiling.

"But we need to land at Charles Lundrow Airport!" Ducky was practically yelling at the pilot. "Ok, sir. We will try to get flight clearance." Tony heard the nervous young man say. He watched as a disgruntled Ducky stormed out of the cockpit and sat next to him. "I talked to Gibbs." Tony said when the older man sat down. "What did Jethro have to say?" Ducky asked. "Breena's been kidnapped. She's being held in England." Tony said, pulling up the video that Tim had sent to his phone. Ducky watched in horror as the young woman screamed for her groom.

"Oh- oh my. That's horrible!" Ducky said after it was finished. "Yeah. We're gonna pick her up first, then get the other people." Tony said, taking his phone back. Then it beeped. "What was that?" Ducky asked. "I got a text." Tony said, navigating to his message inbox. He looked at the sender. Gibbs. When ever you got a text from Gibbs, it was life or death. It was an understood rule for everyone on his team. Unless its Abby. He opened it and read it to Ducky. 'One hour.' was all it said.

Gibbs was really good with emotion. In fact, he was great with dealing with other people's emotions. He almost always knew what to say, in any situation. But not this. There were no words in the world that could comfort this man at the moment. Unless they came from Breena's mouth. This was most certainly overload. Shannon and Kelly's funeral- that was overload. Kate and Jenny. That was overload. Sure, he had his hand on Jimmy's shoulder, and sure he wasn't crying anymore, but still. He looked at McGee, who had his brow furrowed. He only did that when he was intent, hacking, or something was confusing him. Then he turned to DiNozzo's desk.

It hadn't been easy telling Jimmy to move desks. But after a while, he just gave up fighting and walked over to Gibbs desk, where he sat now. So, DiNozzo's desk sat untouched, sopping copy of GSM and all. Empty. Gibbs was sick with worry. His gut was literally screaming at him 'No! Don't let Tony go! This means trouble!' But he had to. Tony had to find Breena because Gibbs could tell she was the Shannon to his Gibbs, so to speak. They were meant for each other.

He went over to Tony's desk, ignoring his gut, and started to wipe it off. He threw the magazine away, which in turn caused Ziva and McGee to look up. Jimmy still had his head buried in his hands. Gibbs walked over to the man and pulled him out of his chair. "Where are we going?" he asked, confused. "Oh." he replied when Gibbs plopped him back down at Tony's desk.

"Mess around on DiNozzo's computer while he's gone." he simply stated. "I can do anything I want? Even- even investigate?" Jimmy asked, a glimmer of hope in his eye. Gibbs was about to say no, considering what happened the last time he tried to investigate. But the look on Jimmy's face...

"Yeah. Tim, show him the basics." "Got it, Boss." Tim said, getting up. "Tim. The basics." Gibbs stopped him before he got to Jimmy. "Ok." he replied. Palmer was a quick learner, Gibbs could tell that much. Plus, McGee needed, no he deserved a break. It would be a breeze for him. But something was still nagging him. Gibbs sighed and looked out the squadroom window, into the dark night. The moon was just barley visible over the horizon by now. Tony should be landing in another hour or so, he estimated. Stupid gut. He couldn't believe he was about to do this. But it had to be done. For the very first time in his life, Leroy Jethro Gibbs was going against his gut.

Abby looked at the bottom right corner of he computer screen. 8:51pm. The sun had set a while ago. She knew very well about the deadline, and was determined to solve it early. Abby took the caf pow machine after it was filled up that afternoon and emptied it into forty three jumbo cups. 'No, forty two' thought the scientist as she threw one in the trash and picked another up off the lab table. She had also stock piled high protein yogurt in her refrigerator and chips in an empty cabinet. She wasn't going to sleep for more than two hours at a time because she had rigged her computer alarm to go off every two hours and say something motivational. Last hour was 'Timmy really cares.'

Bert was sitting faithfully next to her computer, his smile never fading. "Oh, Major Mass Spec. How are we going to do this?" Abby asked he machine. Wait. Something was wrong. Major Mass Spec was not buzzing. Oh, that's why. She had forgotten to turn him on. "Come on, kids! Let's wake up!" Abby said, twirling around the room and turning all of her machines on.

Almost two hours had passed since everything took off. Tony and Ducky had probably landed at that point, Jimmy got his heartbreaking video, and Abby woke up from her much needed power nap. She heard the elevator ding, and Abby hurried into position. She pushed the button on her remote so the punk rock/metal Christmas music came on, put her black santa hat on her head, and got the other one from the drawer out. It was bright orange, like the squadroom. Abby ran up to the door frame and became silent. When Gibbs walked in, she plopped the hat on his head and yelled "Surprise!". Gibbs looked at her. "What's this for? It's May, Abby. You do realize that it's not Christmas, right?" Gibbs asked, taking the hat off his head. "Of course I do!" Abby said cheerfully. She turned down the music and waited for Gibbs to say his famous line.

"Whaddya got, Abbs?" "Oh how I love those words." Abby said, giving the bossman a big hug. "Abby!" Gibbs said. "Right. I really don't have anything... You didn't give me much to go on." the scientist said, navigating to her computer and typing something in. "All I've got are some partial fingerprints. Nothing I can match. I looked at all the security footage from the times our suspect was in town and I found this." Abby said, putting a navy yard security camera video up on her plasma.

"It's from the camera at the coffee shop right next to the building. You know the one you say their coffee tastes like dead coca plants?" Abby informed her friend. "Uh huh." Gibbs responded. He had made the mistake of going there when it first opened last year. "The suspect's face is almost completely hidden and I'm not sure if I can get anything good enough to run through facial recognition. But I'm running it though a program to see if I can clear it up anymore. Sorry Gibbs." She said, turning to face him. "Oh, but I did find this sucked on mint. Want the rest? I've already taken all the DNA I can get off of it." Abby said, holding an evidence bag up.

Then a ding went off. "Ding? How can I have a ding already? I just started the tests! There should not be any dinging going on in Labby!" Abby said, frantically searching all of her machines for flashing red or green lights. Gibbs looked at the computer and squinted. "Abbs, what's this?" Gibbs asked, slightly confused. He didn't know practically anything about computers, but Gibbs was sure he'd seen the notice before... "An email! Uh, how could I be so stupid! I should have known that was my email ding!" Abby said as she walked over, more than a bit frazzled. She pulled up her email and clicked on the most recent one at the top of the page. "Gibbs. Th- that- that's-" Abby said, scared. She looked up at her father figure, eyes filled with fear. "Yeah, Abbs. I know. Pull it up." Gibbs said, hugging the frightened woman. "Ok." Abby said, her hands shaking. She opened the email and clicked on the link. "Same sender as the last." Gibbs said before the video started. As soon as the video started, however, Abby got one of the biggest smiles on her face. She turned to face Gibbs, who had his frown/smile thingy on his face. "Well, Abby. I didn't see that one coming..." Gibbs said, surprised. Abby was giggling.

"I love him. I absolutely love him. Not like love love him, but love him as like a friend or like as a co-worker or like somebody you've known for like as long as i've known him or something like that. Oh, you know what I mean, Gibbs." Abby said, talking fast again. "Yeah, Abbs. I get it." Gibbs replied, turning to leave. "I'll get Palmer." he said just as Abby picked up the phone to call him. Abby silently cursed but rushed to her desk to call anyway. "Ji- Jimmy. I- I mean, Special Agent DiNozzo's desk." the sad man on the other line said. "Jimmy! Get down here! I've got ah... something to show you!" Abby whispered into the phone. "Why?" Jimmy asked. "Because. You've got a new video."

**Oh no! What does this mean for Jimmy? What happpens next? Stay tuned to find out! Did you like it? Let me know! I do love reviews...**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm not quite sure how this chapter came to mind... But it did. So, I hope you enjoy!**

Tim stared at the screen, frustrated. He was currently hacking into the CIA, because apparently, they didn't like to kindly reveal information about major criminals. And Gibbs wanted information. I mean, sure he hacked the CIA five or so years ago, but that was a long time ago. Ever since Fornell's geeks found out (much to Tim's disappointment; he was sure he'd completely covered his tracks) what he'd done, Tim had been probably placed on the CIA's list of the most dangerous hackers for the rest of his life. Which Vance wasn't too happy about either, but blame MIT for that.

'What a great book this would make...' Tim thought as he tried yet another backdoor. 'Too bad I've already finished the Deep Six series...' As he became more and more frustrated, Tim decided he needed to hack into something to get some form of information. 'But what?' he thought to himself. Just for fun, Tim decided on what his next target would be. Just for fun.

Ironically, he had to hack into the list of the Top Ten Hackers. 'FBI is so easy.' he thought. As he bypassed a snooper, Tim tried to recall what he's hacked into in the past nine years. FBI, CIA, even Mossad. Here it was. The list of the top ten hackers in the United States of America. Tim started at the bottom. He wanted to be surprised. So as he started to scroll, Tim got a bit nervous. Which was weird, yet understandable. He started with number ten.

10- Taran Simpson  
9- Margaret Breeves  
8- Warren Daniels  
7- Eric Beal

'Ha! Take that!' Tim thought. He had nothing against Eric, but Eric sure did hate Tim. He didn't like it very much; Tim felt the few geeks out there as smart as they were needed to stick together. But Tim was so going to rub it in his face anyway.

6- Catherine Shasta  
5- Hayden Dykes  
4- Jeff Harrison  
3- Abby Scuito

"Yes!" Tim said a bit too loud. "What? Did you find something?" Ziva asked, looking up from her work. "Oh, no. I was just er- waiting for this um... program I'm running to- to upload. So, I decided to look at the ah- top ten hackers in the US and Abby's number three on the ah list." Tim said, embarrassed.

Ziva got a confused look on her face as she glanced back at her computer. "Good luck?" she responded, not sure how to answer something like that. Tim looked back at his computer as well. Ziva had pulled up an IM with him.

_AwesomeNinja09_**:** So, in other words, Gibbs wanted you to hack?

_GeekWithAGun_**:** Yeah

_AwesomeNinja09_**:** Got stuck?

_GeekWithAGun_**:** Yeah

_AwesomeNinja09_**:** What were you hacking?

_GeekWithAGun_**:** CIA. Can't get in. ;(

_AwesomeNinja09_**:** In all the years I have known you I have learned one thing

_GeekWithAGun_: Whats that

_AwesomeNinja09_: That can't is not in your vocabulary. Do not doubt yourself McGee :D You are very good

GeekWithAGun**:** Thanks Zi :) And I havent really know cant to be in your vocabulary, either.

_AwesomeNinj09: _That is true as well.

_GeekWithAGun has signed off_

_AwesomeNinja09 has signed off. Conversation is over._

Tim looked back at his computer. 'Back to the list' he thought, getting himself back on track. He was down to the last two. Now he was excited.

2- Norm Thompson

Nine down, one to go. This was it. This was the moment he'd been waiting for. Well. Kind of. Tim wasn't sure if he should feel proud or ashamed, even in he wasn't on the list. Which would be good for him and bad for him. Decisions, decisions.

1- Tim McGee

He clicked on his name, which led him to a small bio page.

Timothy Howard McGee

-NCIS Special Agent

-*Number 1 for life- keep an eye on*

-Extremely capable, competent

-Able to cover his tracks very well

Hacked- FBI, CIA, DOD, Mossad, others. Tim McGee's full page

Ok. That wasn't good. The CIA had a page on his hacking history? 'I wonder if Vance knows?' Tim thought, worried that it would affect his job. Nonetheless, Tim was happy, so when he initially read it, he was of course elated. "Guess who the number one hacker is in the United States of America? YOURS TRULY, VERY SPECIAL AGENT TIM MCGEE!" Tim yelled. The whole floor looked over at him and he saw the weirdest looks on people's faces. "Um.. sorry. Sorry everybody. G- go back to work." he said, sitting back down. "MCGEE! What did I say about apologizing?" Gibbs yelled, walking into the bullpen at exactly the right time. Ziva looked up and snickered.

"Not to do it! It won't happen again." Tim said, looking up at the boss he loved. "So, you're the best hacker I can buy now?" Gibbs asked, walking over to his middle agent. "For life, boss. Look at that! They have a file on me! A file!" Tim said, pointing to the screen. "Oh yeah. That file is pretty interesting. My favorite was a one week suspension in high school for moving an Admiral's stuff out of his house and onto the helicopter launch pad for Halloween." Tim's cheeks reddened as the subject was brought up after twenty years.

"Worst week of my life. Thank goodness my dad was away. Phone calls were horrible quality and hard to acquire at the time, so I didn't get in trouble for about three months after that. But boy was it worth it. Don't tell Tony. " Tim said, recalling many other childhood memories. "Ok, then, hacker-man. What'd you get from the CIA?" Gibbs asked, avoiding a conversation they didn't really have time to start. "Um... I haven't gotten in. Yet." Tim said, waiting for the headslap that never came. Instead, Gibbs walked over to his desk and sat down. "Then get hacking!"

Tony got off the plane and stretched, making a very strange noise as he did so. "That was a long flight." he said, returning to a normal stance. Vance had arranged for someone to pick them up at the airport, but since Ducky tagged along, they waived off the got a rental and Tony got in the driver's side, forgetting they were in England. Duck grinned and shut the door to the real driver's side. "Oh, come on Ducky! Let me drive!" Tony begged, sounding like a child.

"I don't think so, Anthony. I know England inside out. Now, what's the address?" Ducky asked, looking over at the pouting agent. "Here." Tony answered grumpily, handing him a slip of paper. "Come on. We only have an hour to complete our mission!" Ducky said excitedly. After a fifteen minute drive, the pair arrived at the warehouse. Tony quietly got out and drew his gun."Ducky, get behind me." Tony hissed. "You don't have to tell me twice." Ducky answered with a grin. "Ok. We're going in."

Tony was really nervous. Like the bowl game in college nervous. What if he messed this up? What if Breena was harmed? What if Breena wasn't even there? He hoped they weren't to late. Tony counted down on his fingers. When he reached a clenched fist, Tony kicked the door down. "Did you hear that?" Ducky whispered, trying to be helpful. Tony only nodded in response. He checked his watch. They had just about forty minuets left in the country of England. "Breena?" Tony called when they reached a large open area of the warehouse. He and Ducky scanned the room, and when he heard a muffled reply, Tony put his gun away. They rushed up to the figure in the middle of the room. "Breena, are you alright?" Tony said when they got to her. she nodded as Ducky carefully pulled the duct tape off her mouth. "Thank you so much!" she said as Ducky removed her bonds. Tony went about clearing the rest of the small warehouse.

That's when he spotted the laptop. He smiled. "Palmer's gonna love me for this." he said, mostly to himself. "Hey, Ducky!" Tony called over and pointed to the webcam. Ducky got what he was thinking, and whispered in Breena's ear as he cleaned up some cuts on her arms. "Do you have anything to say to your Jimmy?" he asked kindly. She nodded. "Well, now would be a good time to say it, my dear." He answered, smiling at her. Tony spoke into the camera. "Hey Jimmy. It's Tony. We found her. Breena's ok." he said with a charming smile. He turned the camera towards Breena, who was just about to yell something. "Jimmy Palmer I love you so much! And... I can't wait to be your bride!" She said, staring straight into the camera. Tony shut off the video and finally figured out how to email it to Abby. "Ducky, take her back to the plane. I'll pick up the Hudson's."

Ducky got outside and hailed a cab, while Tony took off in the rental. When he reached the gymnasium where they were supposed to be, Tony looked around. First he looked on stage, to rule anybody out. Nope, not up there. Then he started looking though the crowds. Tony was about to turn around when he bumped into someone. 'Wow. This guy is tall!' was Tony's first thought.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you ok, sir?" the student asked. "Yeah I'm fine. Hey, you wouldn't happen to be apart of the Vocal Thrillers group, would you?" Tony asked, hoping he would get lucky for once in his life. "Yeah. Are you looking for someone?" he inquired. "Do you know a Mason Hudson?" Tony asked. "That's me. Why do you want to know?" Mason asked. "I need you and your mom to come with me please. I have a warrant for your arrest." Tony said, pulling out a folded piece of paper with a page from McGee's book typed up on it. They would need a warrant to prove it, Tony could tell that much. "Wh- What? Mom! Th- this guy wants to arrest us! He said he's got a warrant!" Mason exclaimed. "Come with me, please." Tony said as he ushered them out of the building. "You are both under arrest."

Vance paced around his office. He did that when he was nervous. The clock on his wall had seemed to have become a flashing neon sign that kept saying 'Look at me! You're going to die sixty three hours!' Vance finally decided to do something. He waked out of his office and headed for the catwalk above the third floor squadroom. He watched McGee, David, and Gibbs working. Was DiNozzo back already? No, he'd only been gone for a few hours. So who was sitting at his desk? Then he recognized him.

"Palmer! What are you doing up here?" Vance called down. "Breena was k- kidnapped. I- We- we're waiting for more information. Tony and are in England, trying to s-save her." Jimmy replied, looking up at his boss. "I'm- I'm sorry. Good luck, Jimmy." Vance responded. "T- thank you, Director Vance," came the shaky answer. Anybody could tell he'd been crying. His eyes were puffy and his face was red.

Gibbs looked up and stared at Vance. The famous Gibbs stare. Almost as famous as his gut. Sometimes Vance wondered what he'd done to deserve the stare. But this time he knew. He wasn't protecting his agents or his agency. He pulled a toothpick out of his pocket and read the label. Cinnamon. He smiled as he stuck in his mouth and walked back into his office. So, if he wasn't protecting his agency, where should he start?

**Oh, Vance. I really don't like you very much. But I decided to add a tid bit about you anyway. Now that you know what happens to Breena, what do you think? Where will the story go from here? Let me know because I love reviews!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Finally the next chapter! Hope you like! ~Owl**

Jimmy sat at DiNozzo's desk, playing with the pencils in his cup holder. He watched as Gibbs picked up the phone and walked over to the back elevator. A few minuets later, Tony's desk phone rang. "Jim- I mean, Special Agent DiNozzo's desk." Jimmy said, dejectedly. It was Abby. Telling him he had a new video. He hung up on her and ran past Gibbs, who was just getting out of the elevator. "Abby's lab, she's got something for you. I'll be right down." Gibbs said as the worried man ran past him. He stopped long enough to reply. "Oh uh.. t- thank you Agent Gibbs." He was practically wheezing by the time he got to the lab.

"Is it- is it Breena?" He asked in between breaths. "Yes, Jimmy. It's Breena." Abby said, happily. Just then Gibbs walked in with a new cup of coffee. McGee had been nice enough to leave one on Gibbs' desk before he went up to MTAC to make life easier for all of them. Palmer watched as Gibbs shoved a chair in his direction and Abby pulled up her email. Jimmy knew that he was more of a watcher than anything else. He took the chair with open arms and sat down shakily. Was Breena ok? Was she hurt? Why was Abby so happy? "Thanks." he said, looking at Gibbs. "Here you go!" Abby said, gesturing to the plasma in front of him. He was a bit calmer now. The first thing Palmer saw was Breena, the same as before. But she looked relieved.

The next thing he saw was DiNozzo's sweaty face. "Hey Jimmy. It's Tony. We found her. Breena's ok." Jimmy sighed. His breathing slowed. His heart rate returned to a normal speed. He slouched in his chair. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Tony is good to have around sometimes." He said with a chuckle. Then Jimmy heard an unmistakable voice. Breena. "Jimmy Palmer I love you so much! And... I can't wait to be your bride!" she said proudly. Jimmy looked at the plasma and smiled. He had to take off his glasses because they were fogging up, but he didn't care. Tears were streaming down his face, but he didn't care. He was making a fool of himself in front of his friend and boss, but he really didn't care. "I love you too, Bree."

Ziva sat at her desk, frustrated. The computer wasn't cooperating, and she was getting annoyed. "Stupid computer!" She yelled and hit the back of it. She walked over to Gibbs' desk and found his baseball bat, just as the man himself walked into the squadroom. "Ziva! What are you doing at my desk?" Gibbs yelled. He seemed absolutely livid. "Computer problem." She simply stated, holding up the black bat. "Oh. That's fine." Gibbs said, shuffling behind her and putting something in a drawer. She left and went to her own desk. "Just don't let McGee see you." Gibbs said, looking at the younger agent and getting the fait trace of a smile on his face. Ziva actually did smile and hit the monitor lightly every time it malfunctioned. A few minuets later, something came up on her screen.

"Uh oh." Ziva said as she read what had appeared. "Did you break it?" Gibbs asked while he shuffled through old reports to see if anyone had that big a grudge against the agency. "No, this lead." Ziva replied. "Name?" Gibbs asked, glancing over at her. "Jamisha Ohida. She's a known criminal mastermind based in Japan. Her brother, Aki Ohida, was put away by NCIS five years ago for drug possession and involuntary manslaughter. He was killed in prison two months ago." Ziva concluded, giving a tad bit of background on the newest suspect. "Why did we jail him?" Gibbs asked. "He was enlisted in the Navy for a few months, and we caught him in a raid. He wasn't the chief suspect, but he was still committing a crime." Ziva answered her boss. "Wait for Ducky and DiNozzo to get back, then go to Japan and pick her up." Gibbs ordered. "Ducky and DiNozzo are back! Although I'm hurt you mentioned me last, boss, I- um- yeah I'm just gonna shut up now." Tony yelled as he burst out of the stairwell.

Ducky and the Hudson family followed, as well as Breena. "But we got everyone back safe and sound." Tony said as he pointed at the approaching group. Tony kept talking as Ziva turned away and started to gather things for her trip, but she just shut him out. Ducky called Jimmy who came running up the back stairwell for what seemed like the millionth time that day. "Breena!" he yelled when he saw her. Ziva smiled. She always liked a happy ending. She watched as Breena ran into Jimmy's outstretched arms. They hugged and kissed and Jimmy twirled her around in his strong arms. Even Tony smiled at the happy reunion. It reminded her of Michael.

'No' she shoved the thought aside as she geared up. She took the ninja stars she kept in her bottom weapon's drawer out and shoved them into her bag. "Tony, Ducky, Jimmy, Gibbs." Ziva said as she slung her bag over her shoulder. She nodded at each member of her team as she said their name. No. Team wasn't the right word. Family. Family was the right word. They were a family. And Ziva was glad to be apart of that family, no matter how strange or awkward or confusing or dysfunctional it may be. She took one last look at her family, her home away from home and called "Sianara!" as the elevator shut and she went down.

Ducky grinned and gripped Breena's shoulder, as if to say 'Everything is going to work out.' "Anthony!" he called down to the man who had already alighted from the plane. Tony ran up to the steps and looked up at him. "Yeah?" he asked, looking like the nice man who carried your bags for you when you flew a private plane. Ducky pointed to the back of the plane where the Hudson's were still sitting. "Oh, right." Tony said, forgetting about their guests. He rushed to open the back door that had separated the two parties the whole flight. "I'll take Breena in." Ducky said, getting off the jet. Shall we?" he asked, holding his arm out and gesturing to headquarters. "We shall. You're such a gentleman, Ducky!" Breena said, giggling. "Jimmy's a real find. You're lucky to have him, my dear." Ducky told her as they began the short walk back to headquarters. Ducky tried to hide the worry in his voice from the young woman. "Thank you." Breena blushed.

"Hey, Ducky! You call Gibbs yet?" Tony yelled, one hand on each Hudson leading them to the building. "No. did you want me to?" Ducky yelled back, reaching for his cell. "Nope. This is gonna perfect!" Tony said back, hinting at his usual antics. He had caught up with Ducky now, and all five people were in stride with each other. The Hudson's were talking quietly amongst themselves. They got past security, who had to check every last inch of everyone coming in for anything suspicious. They didn't want to take any chances, and Ducky appreciated that. It made him feel that much safer.

The group made for the elevator, but Tony broke off and headed to the stairs. 'So that's what he's thinking.' Ducky though and headed over with him, leading Breena, Mason, and Caroline with him. Breena ran up the stairs after Tony, who got to the door and quietly opened it. 'Young love,' Ducky thought. 'How nice.' He heard Gibbs talking to Ziva. "Wait for Ducky and DiNozzo to get back, then go to Japan and pick her up." Tony burst though the door and started shouting. "Ducky and DiNozzo are back! Although I'm hurt you mentioned me last, boss, I- um- yeah I'm just gonna shut up now." he said when he saw the tired look on Gibbs' face. "But we got everyone back safe and sound." he replied, saying what his boss wanted to hear. "Ya miss me?" Tony asked hopefully.

"No, not really, DiNozzo." Gibbs said, putting his emergency baseball bat back in its spot behind the filing cabinet. Ducky watched as the happy couple was reunited. 'Nothing is better than a happy ending.' he thought as they hugged. Gibbs read the expression on his face and seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. "It's not over yet, Duck." he said, looking at case reports he'd been going through. "I know." Ducky replied. "That's what I'm afraid of."

**Ooh spooky quote to end the chapter! What did you think? Please review because it makes my day when I get reviews. And I love to hear what you guys think! Thank you so much to my loyal readers, reviewers, followers, and favoriters! I love you and all of your support so much! Until the next chapter, Owl**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the really long wait, I was on a camp out for four days and I didn't get to update anything before I left. This is probably my favorite chapter so far. I felt there was some humor in order, but I spilled the whole container instead. Enjoy!**

"Arrrrrghhhhhhh!" Abby yelled. Sometimes computers could be really annoying, especially when the hard drive is fried and you are trying to put it back together. She had absolutely nothing to do in her lab, so she was helping a friend. Abby wanted to help, wanted to try and save everybody, but whoever planted the bomb or bombs was careful. He wasn't on hardly any security cameras, and where ever he was spotted, the surrounding ares were wiped clean. Nobody who was looking could find any bombs, but efforts had stopped when the electricity went out in one of the intelligence buildings. Gibbs had figured that whoever wrote the letter was actually watching, and he shut the search down.

"What's up, Abbs? You got something for me?" Gibbs asked as he walked into her lab. the truth was, Abby had been working for hours on end and she had nothing. But, she had called him down and he was right on time. "Sit." She pointed to an office chair next to him. He sat down with a suspicious look on his face. He hoped this was part of the case. When Abby pulled out her handcuffs, however, Gibbs knew it wasn't. Before he could react, he was handcuffed to the chair. "Abby, what are you doing?" Gibbs almost yelled at her. "Shhh! You'll alert the others!" Abby said as she pushed him into the ballistics lab. All the tables had been cleared of their various weapons and instead housed a bowl of trail mix, coffee for everyone, caf pow for McGee, a bag of chips, and some various dips in brightly colored bowls. She shoved Gibbs in and locked the door. He didn't protest really, instead he scooted over to the coffee and picked up one of the two that had his name on it and started to drink it.

Abby skipped over to her cell phone and dialed Tony's number. "This is very Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo, how may I help you?" he answered his desk phone in his usual fashion. "Hey, Tony! I need you to get down here like now. Well not like right now, because if I wanted you here at this very second, I probably would have called earlier, but come down. And don't bring McGee or Ziva. Ok?" She finished, taking breath. "Yeah sure. McGeek is busy trying to get into the um.. well, he's trying to pick the lock on Trent Kort's back door if you get what I'm saying. And Ziva's off on a wild ninja hunt to Japan. So I'll be right down." Tony replied, already jogging off to the elevator.

Once she heard the elevator ding, Abby grabbed the second pair of cuffs. She owed Dorneget big time for sneaking those out of inventory. She slid the chair in front of Tony as he walked in. He accordingly sat down and asked, "What do you need?" "You to cooperate!" She said, catching his wrist in one of the locks. "Hey, Abby! This is so not fair! I didn't do anything wrong. Where's Gibbs?" Tony asked as she shoved him into the lab with Gibbs, who was eating some chips. "Welcome to the party, DiNozzo." Gibbs said when he entered the room. "Oh hey boss." Tony said, stopping himself from running into the back wall.

Next up was McGee. ""Hey Abby. What's up?" Tim said when he answered his cell. "Timmy! Come down to the lab ASAP!" Abby said cheerfully. "Is there something wrong? I'm kinda in the middle of something." He said. "Ugh, Timmy! Picking toe lock on Kort's back door can wait! Please!" Abby begged, knowing that McGee would give in. "Ok, Abs. I'm on my way." When he arrived in the lab, Abby was waiting for him. She made sure he couldn't see Gibbs and Tony and pointed to the chair next to him. He sat down and she swiftly attached him to the chair and scooted him towards the ballistics lab, where the rest of her hostages were being held. She had smartly installed a microphone in the lab so she could talk to them via intercom. "Alright everyone, welcome to the Lab Party! Enjoy your hour long stay." She said when they were all locked in. Abby had taken them all hostage. "Well, at least we have food!" Tony said, grinning like an idiot.

Tim looked up at Gibbs, who was quietly sipping coffee. "Hey, McGee. You find anything?" he asked, setting his drink down on a table. "Um yeah. Jamisha Ohida. Born in Japan, most of her operations are based there. Background check says she's good at covering his tracks, so she's never been arrested." Tim said, looking at his boss. He scooted over and grabbed some trail mix. "Is this necessary?" Tony said, pulling at the handcuff on his left wrist. "Yes. It is." Abby said over the intercom. Tim watched as she went to her refrigerator and grabbed a large bowl. The door opened when she came near it and she set the plastic bowl down on the table. Then Abby ran out the door and shut it before Tony could escape. "Crap." he said, navigating over to the table to see what she had brought in. It was a fruit bowl. Tim grabbed a plate, found a spoon, and started to scoop food onto his plate. Tony did the same, but he carefully picked out only the grapes.

No doubt he would just try to throw them and catch them in his mouth. Tim was right. Less than ten seconds later, there were grapes flying in the air. Gibbs glared at Abby like 'Why would you put grapes in there?' She only smiled and skipped off to the front of her lab so they couldn't see her. One flew towards Tim and he looked up just in time to catch it in his hand. "Oh, come on, McCatcher. Is that all you got? A hand? You're supposed to catch it in you mouth." Tony said, tauntingly. Tim turned to Gibbs, who quietly set his plate down on his lap and reached his hand behind Tony's head. Tim pretended like there was nothing going on and just said, "Come on, Tony." Then he smiled. "What?" Tony asked, confused by the grin spreading across his partners' face. Gibbs built up momentum and then- SMACK! The sound of the slap resounded and echoed throughout the small room. "OUCH!" Tony yelled, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. "What was that for?" Tony screamed again. "For being an idiot, DiNozzo." Gibbs replied. "I can live with that." he replied. Then he scooted out of Gibbs' reach and chucked another grape at Tim's face.

'Oh no. Not again.' Tim thought as his mind drifted off to a time that seemed like a life time ago. He was twenty seven, he'd been an agent for less than two years. But he was on Gibbs' team. Sitting at his desk, writing a note to the family of a witness who had died under his protection. Tim remembered he felt horrible. However, Tony and Kate were throwing carrot sticks at each other, laughing and having a good time. Oh, Kate. Tim missed her so much. Her talent, humor, kindness, and her personality were just so... right. But then again, without Kate, there would be no American citizen and special agent named Ziva David. Tim realized he was slipping into what he called a sub-conscious state, where he was fixated on a thought or memory that he couldn't tear himself away from. Tears were welling in his eyes. "Tim, you ok?" Gibbs asked sounding worried. He snapped out of it and straightened up. "Yeah, Boss. I'm fine. Just old memories."

**And then, of course, there is that little bit at the end. But I was reminded about that when I wrote the food fight. Anyways, what did you think? Let me know because reviews make the chapters come faster!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Next chapter! I have finally planned out the rest of the story, so yay! I am really really really sorry for not updating! I've been so busy getting back to school and settling in and I've been on vacations and stuff. But, I am dedicating my weekend to writing, so I will try and write a bunch this week. Enjoy~ Owl**

"Thank you, Mr. Secretary." Vance replied, looking to the MTAC officials and gave them the signal. His conversation with Jarvis had ended after a half an hour briefing. He looked at his watch, which seemed to be burning a hole in his wrist. It was well into the night at NCIS headquarters as the director stepped out of MTAC and onto the catwalk leading back to his office. He peeked in and found his trusty secretary, Cynthia, asleep in her chair with a blanket pulled over her.

Vance smiled. It seemed, to him at least, that anybody who worked at NCIS had to be able to either sleep in an office chair or on the floor comfortably. He snuck back out as not to disturb her and looked down on the three squad rooms. In the third slot, Vance saw Agent Evans asleep in his chair as well as his partner, Agent Williams. Agent Dawson was tapping away on her computer across from the team leader, Special Agent Johnson. In the second area, Agents King, Cole, and Rodgers slept on the floor while their team leader looked through files. Special Agent Scott looked at his team and shook his head. "You guys are getting up bright and early today." he said, chuckling and returning to the file he was sifting through.

And in the first bullpen was perhaps the most well known team in the agency. But there was no one in it. Vance knew David was off to Japan, but where was the rest of them? It was too late to be chasing a lead, but then again it was Gibbs. You never know with him. He thought back to his conversation with the man earlier that day. Well, technically, it was yesterday, but who really cared.

_"Well, yeah, Leon. I value my life."_

Vance valued his life too. And Jackie and Jared and Kayla. His life depended on his agents ability to solve a case. The biggest case ever. The biggest test. Except if you failed this test, it was punishable by death. Vance reached in his pants pocket ad pulled out a toothpick at random. Jackie would be so mad if she found out the amount of toothpicks he'd chewed that day. He examined the wrapping and came to the conclusion that it was the only flavor he hadn't had that day. Bubblegum. Not his favorite, but it was still good enough. His thoughts were troubled, his mind was clouded, wool had been pulled over his eyes. To put it straight, Vance was stuck. What was his next move? His field agent days were long behind him and he had a federal agency to run that might go up in smoke in forty eight hours anyway.

And where would he be then? The whole Navy Yard was scared out of its mind and there was a psycho watching their every move. Yet, the more Vance thought about it, the clearer it became. He needed to do something. But what? He looked down and noticed Neil Scott looking up at him with a worried look on his face.

"Everything ok, Director? I mean besides this mess?" Scott asked, gesturing to his team asleep on the floor. They both knew what he really meant, but Scott has always been known for being funny in any situation. Kind of like DiNozzo. "Nope. Get back to work, Neil." Vance replied, sounding very calm. Neil shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the next file on his desk. Vance frowned at all the sleeping agents.

"Scott!" Vance called down again. Neil swiveled around to face his boss. "Yes director?" he asked. "Get them up at 0500 hours." he said and walked back into his office. "Yes sir." Vance heard him answer as he crept past Cynthia and plopped down on the inviting sofa in his office. "No, everything is defiantly not ok."

Ducky stared out the squadroom window that overlooked the rest of the Navy Yard. "This navy yard has changed a lot in the past ten years. I remember when there was three lonely agents sitting at those same desks doing paperwork." Ducky said over the sound of Tony and Tim typing. "When will Ziva be back?" Ducky asked directed to Gibbs. "Well Duck, I'm not sure. Let's hope she touches down, grabs our girl, and gets her ass back here." Gibbs said, staring at his cell phone which he then proceeded to bang on his desk. Ducky looked up at Tim, who cringed every time the piece of technology was slammed on the desk. Tony just sat there, ignoring the whole thing. Tim had tears in his eyes.

"Is there something wrong, Timothy?" Ducky asked. "No, its just this thing that happens when I don't get to take my allergy medication. If I stare at a computer screen too long my eyes tear up. Boss, can I go down and work with Abby?" he concluded, getting some solution out of his desk. He squirted it into his eyes and sighed. "What does Abby have that I don't?" Gibbs asked, throwing his phone at McGee. "Darkness. And computer dimmers. I'm sorry boss, I just need to use a darker screen for a while. I'll be back up when my eyes feel better." Tim said, apologizing. "Yeah McGee, do your thing. And fix my phone too." Gibbs called after him as he rushed out of the squadroom. Ducky leaned on Ziva's desk. "Do you remember those days, Anthony?" Ducky asked.

"Yeah, actually. I do." he sighed and a nostalgic smile crossed his face. "Gibbs, Blackadder, and I roaming DC fighting Navy and Marine crime. Things were pretty boring back them, mostly because Blackadder was a neat freak and she went though my desk every other week looking for trash. That got really annoying. And creepy." Tony and Ducky chucked. "But when Morrow, well, when Gibbs fired her and it was the two of us, those were the scariest few weeks of my life." Tony said.

"Really DiNozzo?" Gibbs said, looking at the younger agent. "Uh w-what I meant was- was it was scary b- because I was afraid one of us w- would get um hurt on the job b- because there was only two of us besides- besides Ducky and- and Gerald." Tony said, trying to save himself. "You got any leads?" Gibbs responded. "Uhh..." Tony trailed off and looked at the blank word document on his screen, then to the chat window he had open with Abby and McGee. Not to mention the amounting paperwork and files on his desk. "No, boss, we got nothing um nothing new." Tony finally answered.

"Jethro, the Hudson's have been waiting a very long time and it is one in the morning. When are you going to talk to them?" Ducky asked, looking upstairs. Gibbs started to get up. Tony also got up, but Gibbs stopped him. "If I wanted you to come, I would have asked, DiNozzo." Gibbs said, jogging up the stairs. He looked down at Tony, who was reluctantly sitting down and pulling out another energy drink. Gibbs glanced back at Ducky, who looked very bored. Why wasn't he in autopsy? Gibbs shrugged and walked past MTAC, past Vance's office, and to the third door. He sighed and grabbed the handle.

Gibbs opened the door to the fluorescent orange conference room, where a nervous mother and son sat. The young man, barely out of collage, Gibbs guessed, stood up and immediately stuck his hand out. "Mason Hudson." he said with a smile. 'Confident,' Gibbs noted. 'And polite.' "Firm grip says a lot about a man. I"m Special Agent Gibbs." he introduced himself and took a seat across the table. "Oh. Thank you sir." Mason answered, sitting down as well. "Don't call me sir." Gibbs said with a smile. "Oh sorry, Agent Gibbs." the man corrected himself. "Caroline. I'm Mason's mother." she shook Gibbs' hand across the table. "I don't mean to be rude, but why are we here?" she asked.

Gibbs stayed silent and set nine files down. He took one off the top and shoved the other eight away from the group. He turned the file so it faced the family and opened it. "Oh God. What has he done now?" Caroline asked. They both relaxed and sat back in their chairs. Gibbs figured they'd had this talk before. "We believe he had planted a bomb." Gibbs said, unconsciously glancing at his watch. The metal had never been colder on his wrist.

"Well that almost sounds like Jeremy. He's a maniac." Caroline said, snorting. "Do you have any idea where he is?" Gibbs asked calmly. "He lives in Triangle, Virginia, but he doesn't really stay there. He's been running from the cops for about three months now, so I doubt he's anywhere near there anymore." Mason spoke up, taking out his vibrating phone.

"Um.. Max is wondering where we are... We were supposed to be home by now." he said, looking at his mom. She took the phone and started texting on it. Mason directed his attention back to the agent in front of him. He smiled at Gibbs, who started a conversation with the man. "Who's Max?" he asked. "Oh he's my step brother. My mom married his dad a few years ago, after my dad died in Iraq five years ago." he said. "Army?" Gibbs asked. "No, he was a Marine." Mason answered, twiddling his thumbs. "I was a Marine." Gibbs said, a rare smile poking through. "Yeah? That's cool. I almost enlisted, but I decided not to. Felt that singing and acting was more my thing. I guess I was right." he opened up to Gibbs and shrugged his shoulders.

Then Caroline got of the phone. "Um... can we go?" Mason asked. "Yeah." Gibbs said, joining the Hudson's in their relaxed position. They all stood up and Gibbs apologized for taking them out of the competition. He led them out to where their escort picked them up and took them home. So, Jeremy Hudson was no longer a suspect. He's been too busy running from the cops to plant bombs on the Navy Yard.

That left Ohida and hundreds if not thousands of criminals who have grudges against NCIS and the Navy. Wonderful. How were they going to do this in less than two days? As Gibbs was looking out onto the bullpen, he realized Tony was looking at him funny. Of course he turned back to his computer as they made eye contact. Oh DiNozzo. He could be a trip sometimes. Gibbs started to walk down the stairs when he heard a crash followed by a few yelps. He looked around to see where they came from. Tony's chair had slammed against the now slightly dented file cabinet and he was standing up with his hands in the air.

He looked like the biggest idiot in the world, but the crash was accounted for at the least. The yelps were from Cory Evans, Jenna Cole, and Lauren Rodgers being woke up by the crash. "Tony!" they yelled at the Senior Field Agent for waking them from their peaceful slumber. Somehow Williams, Dawson, and King were still sound asleep in their respective areas. "DINOZZO!" Gibbs yelled, wanting an explanation.

"I- I got something, Boss!"

**Woah there! Tony's got something! So... could this be our guy? Let me know what you think, because every review makes my day. Thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Yay, next update! Hope you like it!**

Tony looked at his screen. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He jumped up and stood there, almost not able to comprehend what he was reading. He realized that his hands were still interlocked behind his head. Unfortunately, Tony had done this with out thinking first, so he mentally headslapped himself when he heard Gibbs scream "DINOZZO!", his voice echoing through the second floor. He disregarded the complaints coming from the agents he'd woken up. 'Shoot' DiNozzo thought. Finding his best utterly shocked I-didn't-know-what-I-was-doing voice, he stammered "I- I got something, Boss!"

Gibbs ran down the stairs and made for the plasma, waiting for a one man update. However, Tony had called McGee up from Abby's lab earlier, so he was just waiting on his co-worker. Who was late. McGee came running out of the elevator, caring a few papers in his hand. "You're late, Probie" Tony observed as the younger agent rushed over. "Sorry. You're not going to believe what I found." Tim said, obviously trying to redeem himself. "Woah there, Tim. I'm the one with the major breakthrough here." Tony said, stepping in front of McGee.

The two agents started to bicker, until that is, Gibbs slapped them both on the back of the head lightly "Play nice. There's plenty of room in the sandbox for both of you. Now, little Tony gets to talk first, then Timmy can go. If you two boys don't behave, I'm going to put you in time out. Understood?" Gibbs said, treating them how old as they were acting. Tony and McGee starred at their boss in awe. They weren't even beginning to process what he had just said. He had just treated two, fully grown men like they were no older than three. Tony was the first to snap back into reality. "Sorry, boss." Tony said, putting what had just happened behind him.

"Ok everybody. Meet our dear friends, former Petty Officer Matthew Gomez and his younger brother, Liam. Matt got the big chicken dinner six years ago for 'instigating and participating in too many altercations with other officers.' according to the report. One got pretty nasty and Matt landed himself in Leavenworth for two years on multiple charges, including a hitting a federal officer. But here's where it gets interesting. Kid brother Liam decided to help Matt out while he was of in prison. Liam got arrested for disturbing the peace when neighbors complained of 'loud bangs and explosion-like noises coming from the house constantly.' Tony read from a file. Gibbs looked at him and he continued. "The police found a whole bunch of explosive materials and devices in and around the house." Tony stopped and waited for someone to say something. "Liam was teaching himself how to make bombs?" Tim guessed, a bit puzzled. "Correcto mundo, Probo. Apparently, as they literally dragged Matthew off to prison, he vowed to get revenge on who put him there." Tony said. "Who put him there?" Gibbs asked, afraid he already knew the answer.

"NCIS Special Agent Kyle Balboa. He uncovered something much worse than fighting with too many people. Matt was the head of a ring that was stealing Navy equipment and selling it on the black market. Balboa found out before he even got out of prison. So he served four more years in jail." Tony concluded. "Where is he now?" Gibbs demanded. This was their guy. "Um... I don't know. The only thing I have on him is that he bought a cheeseburger the day he got out of jail four months ago. He's pretty much off the grid." Tony said. "Well your loss is my gain." McGee piped up. "I found both of them." he said with a smile.

Ziva liked planes. She always had. Ever since she was a little girl, Ziva was perplexed by the idea of a huge hunk of metal floating in the air, talking you wherever you wanted to go. And this jet was... well, perfect, to say the least. It was just a luxurious as Tony had briefly described. She pulled out a picture of her target. "Jamisha, you are going down." Ziva said to herself, setting the picture aside. She rolled up her pant leg to reveal her trusty back up blade. It was the one her father had gotten her when she turned sixteen, when she joined Mossad. Ziva sighed. Her life had been so messed up.

Ziva hated to admit it, nor did she think it was right to, but Special Agent Kate Todd's death was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Ziva would have met director Vance because of her father. She probably would have met Gibbs, Tony, and McGee as a suspect in a murder investigation. And she would have never met Abby, Ducky, or Jimmy. Although, Ziva was indifferent towards the director after he sent her back to Israel and what not. to be honest, Ziva wasn't sure if anyone on Team Gibbs completely trusted the director. And the new SecNav, Mr. Clayton Jarvis, seemed a little suspicious. 'No, Ziva You can't think like that.' She told herself.

'Oh great. Now I'm arguing with myself. I've officially gone off my stool. Wait. Is that right? Oh well.' she made a mental note to ask McGee about it when she got back. He would be much more understanding than Tony. Her phone began to ring, dragging Ziva away from her thoughts and back to the real world. "Hello, McGee." Ziva answered the phone.

"Hey, Ziva. Where are you?" Tim asked nonchalantly. He was obviously not worried about anything, except for the possibility of their impending doom. "Hold on." Ziva said as she poked her head into the cockpit. "Excuse me." Ziva said, grabbing the co-pilot's attention. He turned around to look at her. "Yes?" he asked. Ziva smiled warmly at him. He was quite attractive. "Do you happen to know where we are?" she asked. He turned back to the controls for a moment, then spoke. "We are flying over Colorado." he replied, returning the smile. "Thank you." Ziva said as she left. "We are over Colorado." she relayed what the man had told her. "Right. Hey, we got a breakthrough. Gibbs wants you back. Like as soon as possible. Jamisha Ohida isn't our terrorist." McGee told her.

Ziva told her partner thank you, then hung up. She moved to the cockpit once again. "Agent Gibbs has ordered us back to Washington. Can you turn around?" Ziva asked the co-pilot. "Yeah, sure." he said, saying things to the pilot she didn't understand. "We're on are way back home." the co-pilot confirmed. "Thank you." Ziva said. She made for the exit, but stopped and came back in. She squatted down next to the co-pilot. "So, what's your name?" she asked.

The co-pilot blushed.

**And that's if for now! Let me now what you thought of this, because every review makes my day! Until the next update, Owl**


	13. Chapter 13

**So so so sorry for the delayed update. I've had this ready for a few weeks now, but fanfiction wasn't being cooperative. But it's working for me now, so updates will be more regular than before. Enjoy!**

Jimmy led Breena down to Autopsy. She had been there a few times before, but it was just for a brief visit. Then again, this time was going to be no different. Jimmy planned on Breena being out of the building before they had twenty four hours. There was no way she was getting hurt. Not today, not any day. Jimmy vowed that at his wedding, and he had yet to break a promise. They jumped up onto one of the slabs. Or, rather, Jimmy gently helped the still injured Breena up onto the metal table, then joined her. It was cold, but the temperature didn't bother the couple. They worked in a cold setting everyday, Jimmy the same one.

"Are you ok?" Jimmy asked. He hadn't gotten to talk to her because they had been sleeping since an hour ago. There was a chance that Breena would be too paranoid to leave with out Jimmy, but he would have to convince her otherwise if that were the case. "Yeah. I'm just a little shaken up. I'll be ok. But I would feel so much better if you took me home." Breena said, nudging his shoulder. Jimmy sighed. How would he explain that he was most likely going to die in less than two days? Jimmy knew the answer Gibbs would give. 'Kindly.' Jimmy mentally scoffed at the thought. But Jimmy wasn't Gibbs. So he couldn't say that. He sighed, trying to put the right words together.

"I really can't do that, Bree. I- I have to stay here and help the team out on a case." Jimmy said, hoping she would believe him. "What case? I don't see any bodies. Come on, Jimmy. I really just want to be with you today." Breena observed, looking behind her. 'Crap!' Jimmy thought. As he struggled to find the answer to that question, his phone buzzed. Talk about saved by the cell. It was a text from Tony. Telling him to get up to the squadroom, ASAP.

"Oh, crap. I have to go upstairs. Will you wait for me down here? You can use my laptop if you want. It's sitting on the desk over there. No one should be coming in here this early in the morning. Listen, Bree. I really want to be with you today, but I- I just can't. I'm really sorry. I promise you we'll do it in a few days, ok?" Jimmy said, apologizing. "Ok." Breena sighed and slipped off the slab. "I'll be right here." she said, sauntering over to the desk. Jimmy kissed her on the cheek and ran off. He felt bad for leaving her there all alone, but he didn't have a choice.

He couldn't tell her the full story because that meant Breena would cry. When Breena cried, it was like the whole world tumbling down. Jimmy thought back to the couple's first, and only, real fight. It was horrible, to say the least. Jimmy wasn't even sure what it was about anymore. It seemed like such a long time ago. There was yelling and screaming and then there was crying. Crying had ended their fight. Breena started bawling, and Jimmy felt so bad for making his girlfriend cry that he started crying. They held each other like the two lovestruck idiots they were for ten minuets. Jimmy smiled, a sad smile, and relived the moment as he rode the elevator up two floors.

Good news would be nice for a change, and that's what Jimmy was hoping to hear.

Abby rushed up the stairs wen she got Tony's 911 text. Well, technically, she rode the elevator, but no one would know that. It was much easier to use elevators when your boots were five inches tall. Abby figured, no, she knew they had found the bad guys. Team Gibbs always found the bad guys. So, expecting good news, Abby skipped into the squadroom, then over to the bullpen to be with her friends. Abby examined the room and immediately noticed something was off. There was only five people in the room. Not six. She recounted just to be sure. "Why is Ziva not back yet? You caught the bad guys, right? We found them. So why isn't Ziva back?" Abby said, getting nervous. She had been there when Timmy had his breakthrough. No one answered with words, but Gibbs pulled her in for a hug.

"She's on her way back, Abbs. Should be here soon." Abby sighed returned the hug. No use in getting worked up over something other than their present situation. After a few minuets of silence and people staring at each other, Gibbs spoke. "DiNozzo, McGee. Brief, go." Gibbs ordered. Tony and McGee started tripping over each other's feet to get to the plasma. After almost five minuets of Tony and McGee fighting over the clicker and their turn to speak, they had somehow managed to brief every present member of the team. The incomplete team looked around the office.

Agent Alexander Johnson was barking orders, and his team was struggling to keep up with what he was saying. Tony remembered a conversation he'd had with the man. He didn't understand a word Johnson spoke, he was talking so fast. Agent Scott was staring at the one sleeping member of his team, Agent Williams. He then proceeded to kick him until he woke up. McGee smiled as he remembered when he'd first met Michael up in Norfolk. The fire alarm went off and he slept right through it. Tim had to drag him out of the building so the firefighters inspecting it wouldn't think something happened to him. Tim smiled as he recalled the funny memory and had half the mind to go over there and tell Neil how to wake him up.

The second floor of NCIS headquarters was quiet. There were no phone calls, no conferences, no cases, no visitors. Just special agents running around everywhere, trying to accomplish one goal. And it was all a little overwhelming, if one really thought about it. After a minuet of observing this, Ducky spoke. "So. Are you sure this plan will work?"

Gibbs looked around at the agents in front of him. Tony and McGee. Abby, Ducky, Jimmy. Ziva, who wasn't back yet, was still included on the team, and she always had been. Gibbs looked at their faces. Their panicked, stressed, sleepless, and worried faces. Faces he'd seen almost every day for the past ten years. Faces that had hugged him, faces that had cried, faces that had smiled, faces with bodies. Bodies with names. Names that Gibbs held close to his heart. He trusted everyone of them with his life, just as they trusted him with theirs. Gibbs realized the team was staring at him, waiting for an answer to Ducky's question. He saw McGee glance down at his watch nervously.

"How much time do we have, McGee?" he asked his Junior Agent. Gibbs could almost see the gears turning in Tim's head. "Until the bombs start going off, or until total annihilation?" Tim asked, the dread quite audible in his voice. Gibbs slapped him and Tony glared. Abby hugged Gibbs tighter, and he accepted the gesture with his usual warmth. "What do you think?" Gibbs said sternly. "Sorry. Around 50 hours." Tim corrected himself. Gibbs nodded his head. "So does this mean your plan will work?" Ducky prompted.

"It has to." Gibbs said. A small sigh of relief escaped Abby's lips. Gibbs looked down at his own watch. Ziva should be landing soon, and somebody needed to fill her in. "DiNozzo, you go get Ziva when she lands, then I want you to brief her. McGee, you stick with me." Gibbs began barking orders again. "Palmer, you and Breena get the hell off the Navy Yard." he said, grabbing things from his desk.

"No."

Gibbs dropped what he was doing and looked up at Jimmy. Everyone else turned to look at him. Jimmy was probably the last person Tony would have expected to stand up to Gibbs, but he was seeing it right in front of him. He was obviously crazy. "No?" Gibbs questioned. "I- Breena is leaving, I already decided that. But there is no way I am leaving you guys here alone. Not again." Jimmy stood his ground. He made it clear that he wasn't going anywhere. There was no point in arguing. Gibbs smiled as he began to shut all of his drawers. "Alright." was all he said. Gibbs grabbed the numerous files, papers, and random items he had pulled from his desk and started walking out of the squadroom.

"You coming, McGee?" Gibbs asked, not missing. McGee rushed after his boss like a puppy following a boy. "Where are we going, Boss?" Tim asked, wondering he didn't take Tony. "To brief Director Vance." Gibbs responded nonchalantly. If you weren't in the loop, you would have thought it to be a normal day, the way Gibbs had been talking. "Why me? Don't you normally do this thing alone?" McGee questioned daringly, hoping that the answer wouldn't be 'Go get DiNozzo.' Gibbs sighed.

"Well, Tim, considering your idea might have just saved all of our asses, I figured you might want a little bit of credit for your hard work, staying up all night hatching a plan." Gibbs said, seriously. McGee's face turned from surprised to confused. "How'd you know I was up all night?" he asked his boss. "I can smell the mixture of Navy Yard coffee and Caf-Pow a mile away, McGee. You think I don't know what Abby's all-nighter concoction is made of?" Gibbs responded. McGee smirked and looked at the floor. "Yeah. T- Thanks, Boss." he said, his self-confidence meter skyrocketing. Gibbs stopped in front of Vance's door, whispering as not to wake the sleeping Cynthia. He looked his agent in the eyes, telling him that Gibbs wan't messing around.

"Don't thank me, McGee. I should be thanking you."

**I just had to put a Gibbs/McGee moment in there somewhere, because those are so amazing... Hope you liked it! Thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, and follows! Every email I get makes me write that much faster, so keep 'em coming! Until next time, Owl :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Next chapter! Things are certainly heating up! Enjoy!**

"You want to do what?" Vance said, clearly mad. "We want to beat them to the punch." Gibbs repeated. "So you want to blow up the Navy Yard before they blow up the Navy Yard?" Vance said, still not sure of what the hell they were talking about. "Kind of." McGee stepped forward. Vance looked at him and Tim continued to talk. "We want to put something together that won't do hardly any damage, just get a big boom." he said. "That would kill everyone, Agent McGee!" Vance said. Gibbs looked at his agent, then to his director. "Tell 'em how that won't happen." he said, urging McGee on. He looked at his shoes and sighed. there was no easy way to really say it, but Tim knew he had to.

"I know about the 9/11 bunkers." he said. Vance, who was clearly surprised, sat down and secured the room. He spoke after a few seconds. "How the hell do you know about those?" Vance asked. "I- I was working for a technical company before I joined NCIS. I was head of a department, so when the Navy came to the head of the company, he picked me and a few people to help design them. I've known all along." Tim admitted. "That's how I found about NCIS." he concluded, looking at Gibbs. "Well then. Did you tell anyone yet?" Vance asked. "I was going to wait until you cleared me." Tim responded. "You're cleared." Vance said, standing up. Gibbs spoke for the first time in a while. "McGee. This is where you start explaining." McGee sighed.

"Ok. The 9/11 bunkers are an emergency escape route. Very few people know about them. They're under almost every building in the Yard. I designed the one's under NCIS, so I'm pretty sure if you gave me the plans I could navigate them. It's a confusing maze of tunnels and rooms under the building. There's three entrances to the system. Now, here's what I want to do. Along with the tunnels, we also built secured rooms. I was thinking that Abby, the director, and I would go underground after everything was set up and we would track down the Gomez brothers. Gibbs' team, Johnson's team, and Scott's team would retreat to the rooms until we found them. Then we would all gear up and go get 'em." Tim said, proud of his plan.

All of the sudden, Tim heard something that could only be one thing. He smiled and looked at Gibbs. "Ziva's back." he said. Vance looked at Tim and considered what had just been proposed. "That seems very shaky, Agent McGee. I'm not sure I want to sign off on this." Vance said, his opinion not swayed.

"Director, Abby and I worked all night last night and we couldn't find them. They are completely off the grid. Technically speaking, Matt and Liam Gomez don't exist anymore. They never did. They obviously have someone on the outside who is erasing them off of everything they were ever on. Security cameras, credit cards, banks records, financials. Everything is gone. After five am, we decided that it would be more productive to try and save everyone else." Tim argued. Gibbs was impressed. He had never seen McGee so passionate about a cause. He was almost yelling at the man who could fire him just like that, and Gibbs admired the kid's confidence. Vance sighed. "Go tell the rest of your team. I'll consider your plan."

Tim and Gibbs exited the office, and they found Tony and Ziva standing at the plasma. As the two began to walk down the stairs, Tim rubbed his eyes. Gibbs could tell that McGee was about to pass out if he didn't sit down and voluntarily sleep. Abby already had. She was sitting at Tim's desk snoring ever so slightly, and Ducky was leaning on the corner of the desk. "Ziva!" Tim said when he entered the bullpen. "Glad you're back!" he said, hugging her. She smiled and hugged him back. "Tony was just telling me about the plan... But he said you would have to tell me the rest." Ziva said, waiting for Tim to start talking.

"Guys, I would love to, but I'm about to collapse. I need like four hours to recharge my batteries." Tim said, scooting Abby's chair over to make room for another one. 'Wow. She's out cold.' Tim thought as he decided not to wake her. He would just sleep on a chair next to her. Ziva looked at Tony with a confused look. "It's geek speak for he needs to sleep." Tony said. Tim grabbed the chair from the empty desk behind his and fell asleep immediately.

Ducky, who had moved to the other side of Tony, admired the sleeping agents. Both of their head's were using their folded arms as pillows and both were sleeping soundly with their heads on Tim's desk. Tony and Ziva exchanged a glance and smiled. "They look cute, no?" Ziva commented. Tony whipped his phone out and took a picture and sent it to McGee and Abby's phones. "You're such a child, Tony." Ziva said. "So? I enjoy not growing up." Tony said with a smile as he sat at his own desk.

He started playing computer games and watching videos on the internet. "What are we supposed to do for four hours while McAbby dreams of sugar plum fairies?" Tony asked Gibbs. "Good question." Gibbs said. He had been thinking the same. McGee hadn't slept in well over 48 hours, so it wasn't like Gibbs was going to wake him up. Plus, even if the two of them were awake, they wouldn't be doing anything productive. Gibbs sighed and sat back in his chair.

"You two, come here." Gibbs said. Ducky had gone back to autopsy, probably to work on the psych profile. Jimmy had left a while back and was waiting for the best time to send Breena home. Which left Tony and Ziva in the squadroom. "What's up, Boss?" Tony asked as he and Ziva stood in front of Gibbs' desk. "I'm gonna tell you the plan."

Matt sat in the room, watching. He was always more of an observer than anything else. He didn't talk a lot and wasn't very social. Liam, on the other hand, couldn't seem to shut up. "So then I went up to the officer and I looked him in the eye and said 'I don't see any doughnuts.' and ran away. Austin and Sam started runnin' after me and, and... Damn, Matt. You shoulda been there." Liam concluded his story.

Honestly, Matt hadn't listened to a word of it. He was busy listening to someone else. "Liam! Will you please just shut your trap for more than ten minuets?" Matt became increasingly annoyed with his little brother. "Geez, bro. Since when did you have a temper?" Lima accused.

"Since you were born, dim-wit. Now go over there and make sure all of the switches are turned on." Matt ordered. "They are." Liam responded. "Good. You aren't as stupid as I thought." Matt said. Liam winced at the comment. "I can still quit this thing, you know. I can walk away from it if I want to." Liam threatened. He didn't like the way his brother had been treating him lately and decided to put an end to it right now. Matt pulled a gun out and pointed it at his brother. "No, Liam. I really don't think you can walk away."

**Ooh! A Shifty plan, a McAbby moment, and a hot-headed terrorist. What do you think so far? Let me know because I love reviews! Thanks for reading, Owl**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey all! Here's the next chapter! Hope you like it! **

Tony was leaning up against the wall behind the stairs, talking on the phone. He finally decided to call his father. McAbby was still sleeping, but McGee's alarm was going off in less than a half an hour. Since the brainiacs were sleeping, Tony had nothing to do. At first, he wanted to superglue their hands together, but then Gibbs threatened to superglue his ass to the ceiling. Tony didn't know how the hell Gibbs would have gotten him up there, but he didn't wait to find out. So then he retreated to writing notes on paper and throwing them at McGee. Which got pretty boring pretty fast. He was, however, almost buried in a mountain of wadded up paper balls and he had three spitballs stuck in his hair.

Then he cleaned out his desk, thinking that if a bomb went off, he would need room to keep all of his GSM's and Playboy's in there so they wouldn't get damaged. Some of those could be worth something. Plus, he loved them all too much. Tony was still upset over the one Jimmy ruined because it was August 2010, one of his favorites. He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the man answer the phone.

"Anthony DiNozzo's office, how may I help you?" His father's secretary asked. "I'd like to speak with Mr. DiNozzo." Tony said in a deep voice. He decided to play a prank on his father. "Regarding?" the secretary asked. "His son." Tony said in the same official sounding voice. "Ok, one second." the secretary said. "Hello?" Tony's father answered. "Hello, Mr. DiNozzo?" Tony said, laughing silently. This was going to be great.

He was thinking of all the things Tony could say he'd done. He could have gotten arrested, or been shot.. the possibilities were endless. "Yes. Is something wrong with Anthony?" his father asked. "Well, you see Mr. DiNozzo. Your son, Tony, has been arrested for um... for assaulting a police officer." Tony decided. It was pretty lame, but he didn't want his father to think he was an alcoholic or a drug addict. That would be weird and harder to explain.

"What? No, that's not right. Anthony wouldn't hurt a fly!" Senior said. Tony had to hold the phone away from his face because he was laughing so hard. "Can I speak to him?" Senior asked. "Sure." Tony said, loosing the deep voice. "Hey dad. Where are you?" Tony asked his normal voice. "New York! I'm coming to Washington right now to bail you out, don't you worry. I-" the man was cut off by his son. "Dad, its a joke. I'm not arrested. I- I just really need to talk to you." Tony said, laughing a bit. He didn't think his father would care as much as he did. Oh well. "You're not arrested?" Senior asked. "Dad, I'm at NCIS. You could talk to Gibbs right now if you wanted. But I wouldn't advise you to." Tony said.

"Why would you tell me that you were arrested then?" Anthony asked. It seemed pointless. Then again, Junior was known for doing pointless things. "I don't know. I just wanted to have a little bit of fun I guess. It runs in the family." the younger DiNozzo said. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. "Well you've got my attention. What do you need?" Anthony asked. "I just- There's some nasty stuff going on and- dad, I know you really don't want to hear something like this, but someone... Someone planted a bomb on the Navy Yard. We haven't been able to find it or the guys. I just wanted to call you." Tony finally admitted.

"So you called to tell me that..." Anthony trailed off. His son had just told him that there was a bomb. "Yeah. This is probably the last time we're gonna talk." Tony said, leaning against the wall. It sounded worse out loud. The realization finally struck him as he looked down at his expensive Italian watch. He was going to die in 24 hours. There was nothing he could do about it. He was going to die. They couldn't evacuate like they've done before. Tony was going to die. They couldn't stop the bad guys. They had failed. Everyone was going to die.

"Well..." Anthony started. How does one respond to a sentence like that? "I love you, Junior. I always have, even when... even when it didn't seem like it. I hope you know that." he finished. Tony's mouth twisted up into a lopsided smile. He cared. "Yeah, dad. I know. I love you too." They listened to the silence for a few seconds before Tony broke the tension.

"Dad, listen. I gotta go. We aren't giving up just yet. I'll-" he stopped himself. Did he want to say that he would talk to him later? Or was he making a promise he couldn't keep? He didn't want to do that. Tony frowned slightly and decided on what to say. "I love ya, dad. Take care of yourself." He hung up and walked back to the squadroom and locked his phone in his drawer. He didn't want to talk to anybody right now. "You too, Junior." Anthony said as the line went dead.

Ziva looked at her partner, who had his head on his desk, mimicking McGee. "Are you alright, Tony?" she asked, concerned. He looked up at her. "No, Ziva. I am not alright. None of us are alright! We're all going to be dead tomorrow!" Tony said a little loudly. He glanced over at Tim and Abby to make sure his didn't wake them up. Abby was stirring, but that was all. He got up and walked over to Ziva's desk and sat on the floor. She looked down at him and patted the top of his head and ruffled his already messy hair.

"Were you talking to your father?" she asked, sensing that was what was wrong. Tony nodded. "I almost told him that I would talk to him later." he said. "You will. We are all going to get out of this, Tony. At the end of the day today, the only dead people will be the Gomez brothers. You have to stay positive." Ziva said. Gibbs was sitting at his desk, reading the last of Matt Gomez's records. McGee and Abby were still sleeping. Tony turned to face Ziva. "Did you talk to your father?" he asked. Ziva nodded. "While you were in England." Tony smirked. "And I bet you told him the exact same thing."

_"Then why do you call?" Eli asked._

_"To say goodbye... I just wanted to tell you that I love you, so very much. I miss you." _

Ziva nodded. "I did. But my father did not believe that we were doomed. He said he would come to visit me when everything was over." she said. Tony jumped as the alarm on McGee's phone started blaring. Abby slowly got up and tried to find Tim's phone. McGee's head snapped up after a few seconds and he shut the alarm off. Paper balls went flying and he looked around confused. Tony snickered and Tim glared at his partner. "You.." he trailed off. Tony nodded and Tim glared harder. "I'm gonna get you back, DiNozzo." Tim threatened as he shoved all of them into his trash can.

"Um..." Abby said, looking at Tim's hair. "What?" he responded. "You have um... spitballs. In your hair." Abby said, pointing. Tony was lying on the floor, shaking with laughter. Even ziva was giggling a bit. Tim ran his hand through his hair and he finally got them out. "How long have those been in there?" he asked incredulously. "Four hours." Ziva responded. Tim sighed and decided to let it go. For now. He and Abby rubbed their eyes. Gibbs looked at his two agents.

The team was awake. Now it was time to start saving lives. "Hey! You two, get up. We've got work to do."

**What happens next? Let me know what you thought because I love reviews! Thanks for reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey all! Sorry for not updating in a few days... I got into a funk and then I decided to post another story so yeah... Anywho. Here's the next chapter! Hope you like it!**

"So it goes like this, right?" Tony asked, unsure. Tim smiled. "Yeah. Just sit down." he assured his partner. "I- I don't know, McInventor. I'm not entirely sure of this..." Tony said, still unsure. "Come on, Tony. Do it! Don't be a wimp!" Abby chided.

Tony looked at her with a bewildered expression. "DiNozzo's are not wimps! Beam me up, Scotty!" Tony said defiantly as he sat in the swing-like object. He wasn't entirely sure what it was or what it did, but he was no wimp. "Nice! Star Trek!" Tim applauded the movie reference. "So what exactly is this? Tony said as he cautiously got in. Tim looked at Abby. "You'll see." he said cryptically.

"I don't like this. I think I'm going to- woah! McGee! What is it doing? Help me! Ahhhhh!" Tony said as he sat down. The contraption was wildly bouncing up and down, taking Tony with it. Tim and Abby giggled a bit before Tim flipped a switch and turned it off. "What is that?" Tony said, scrambling out of Tim's invention faster than he really could. He ended up on the floor, panting. "It's our escape route." Tim said. Tony looked mortified. "No." he shook his head vigorously as he picked himself up. "There is no way I'm getting back in that thing." he said.

"Come on. Get up. Liam! Wake up!" Matt yelled at his brother. "Huh? Yeah, I'm- I'm up." he said groggily. "What are we doing?" Liam said as he felt his way to the kitchen. He found the cereal and a bowl and began to make himself breakfast. Matt went to the table and got his brother's glasses. "Here. Put these on, you're making a mess." Matt said. "Sorry mom. Come on, Matt. Lighten up." Liam said. Matt rolled his eyes. This kid was hopeless. "Just pour you damn cereal." Matt said, annoyed. Liam slammed the box back on the counter.

"What is up with you! You treat me like I'm someone you met on ! Well I'm not, ok? I'm your brother! I agreed to help you because I hate these guys as much as you do, Matt, but if you don't start treating me like you used to, then I'm leaving. No matter what!" Liam yelled. Matt sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just really stressed out." he said. He rubbed his eyes and sat down on the ratty couch. The TV didn't work, but Liam had somehow gotten all the Navy Yard security tapes to play back on different channels. He turned to Channel 12, NCIS's tapes, and began to read their lips. That was one skill he had perfected in the last few days.

"We're both stressed out, Matt! Seth called me last night, said that those idiots at NCIS are hot on your tail. He held 'em off, but apparently, they've got some good geeks. I'm not going down for this! We can't get caught. They don't have any evidence to arrest us yet, but Seth can't hold them off forever." Liam voiced his concerns. Jail was not somewhere he planned on going. Tahiti maybe, but not jail. "We've only got twenty more hours, ok? Twenty hours, and this will all be over. We'll move to Australia and start over. Ok?" Matt said. "Ok." Liam said. "But you're buying us a kangaroo when we get there."

"Are you afraid?" Jimmy asked. Ducky sighed. "I don't know. Where is Breena?" Ducky changed the subject. Jimmy looked down at his watch. "I sent her home a few hours ago. Hopefully, she's sleeping." Jimmy answered. He and Dr. Mallard had been practically banished to autopsy for a few hours now. "Jimmy, we are going to be alright. Timothy and Abigail have devised a plan that is foolproof. We just need to do what we're told and all will be well." Ducky assured his nervous assistant. Jimmy smiled and nodded.

"Thanks, Dr. Mallard. I- I needed that." he said. He hopped up onto a slab and closed his eyes. "I think I'm going to take a nap. Will you wake me up in two hours? I- I mean, if you don't want then I could set the alarm on my-" Jimmy started. "Nonsense, my dear boy. I will wake you in two hours. No need for a noisy alarm. Good night, Mr. Palmer." Ducky said and shut off the lights in autopsy. He sat back in his chair and Maybe some sleep would do him good.

"Where have you been?" Tim asked as Ziva walked into the squadroom. He hadn't seen her in almost an hour. "I was talking with the director. He said my father called him." Ziva rolled her eyes. "It seems like everybody is talking to their parents." Tim said, laughing a bit. "Haven't you talked to your father?" Ziva said, surprised. She would have thought something as big as this would deserve a call to the people that raised you. Tim shook his head. "Nope. I only call the Admiral if it is absolutely necessary. Plus, I think he's on the Arcadia." Tim responded. "McGee, there is a bomb threat! Doesn't that count as necessary?" Ziva said.

"What's necessary?" Tony said as he walked into the squadroom, three coffee cups in his hand. "McGee does not think that this whole situation warrants a call to his mother and father!" Ziva said. Tony looked at Tim. "Really? We've all called our dads. When's the last time you've talked to the McFamily?" Tony asked. "Well not including Sarah, its been around two years." Tim decided after a minuet. "Two years! I bet Gibbs and his father talk more often than every two years!" Tony said.

"DiNozzo's right. I talked to him last night." Gibbs said as he came out of the elevator and sat down at his desk. Tim looked down at his desk. "Well you guys have seen your dads in the past year. I haven't seen my dad since the day I signed up for NCIS." Tim defended his inactions. It didn't work. Gibbs glared at him.

"Call your mom and dad, McGee. That's an order."

**Ooh, McGee's in trouble! Tim faces his family fears next chapter, so stick around! I decided to skip around a little bit this chapter, just for fun. I wanted to get a few different things in, and now seemed like a good time to do so. Let me know what you thought of this chapter because I adore reviews! Thanks for reading, Owl.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Yay! I'm actually on time for this update! This chapter is devoted to McGee reconciling with is family. Hope you like it!**

Ring. Ring. Ring. Tim sighed. He really didn't want to do this. They only had eighteen hours left. Tim could be doing productive things. Calling his parents and telling them he was going to die wasn't productive. It was the opposite of productive. But, Gibbs was staring him down and Tony and Ziva were both watching from their respective desks. Ring. Ring.

"Hello?" Tim's heart was beating a little faster. He couldn't chicken out in front of his friends. Tim got up and walked away. "Hi, is this Admiral McGee?" Tim asked. The voice was male, but it didn't sound like his father's. "No, he's busy with something at the moment. Can I take a message?" This made Tim mad. His father couldn't spare the time to talk on the phone with his own son? This was why they stopped talking in the first place. "No. But you can go and get him for me." Tim said defiantly. The person on the other line was obviously offended.

"Who is this?" the man asked. "Who is this?" Tim countered. Everything always turned into some big argument. Yet another reason why Tim hated talking to his father. "This is is assistant, Petty Officer Sam Coleman. Who are you?" Coleman demanded again. "I work for NCIS. Now can you please put the Admiral on the phone?" Tim asked. He felt bad about giving the kid a hard time, but he just wanted to speak to his father.

"Hold on a second." Coleman said. He tried to cover the phone but Tim still heard him yell. "Admiral McGee? There's someone on the phone who wants to speak to you! He's from NCIS." Coleman called to Tim's father. "He'll be here in a second." Sam said. "Thank you." Tim said. This was it. 'Hey dad. Just to let you know, I'm gonna be dead in less than a day. Great knowing you.' Tim scoffed. He wished it were that easy.

"Hello, this is Admiral McGee. Is there something wrong with my crew?" Patrick answered the phone. "No, dad. There's nothing wrong with your stupid crew! There's something wrong with me!" Tim yelled. Tony and Ziva stood up and looked back to where cGee was talking on the phone. "You don't know how badly I want to be listening to that conversation." Tony said as he sat down and tried to listen to at least one side.

"Timothy! How are you, son?" Patrick asked. "I'm doing great, considering that a bomb is going to blow up the whole entire Navy Yard in less than eighteen hours." Tim said. "What? Why didn't you call me earlier?" Patrick asked. "Becasue I didn't think you would care." Tim said. "Timothy! What makes you think-" Patrick was cut off by an outraged Tim.

"Because when I was thirteen you said that you would disown me if I didn't join the Navy! I heard you sitting in your study, dad. Why do you think I never tell you anything? I'm only talking to you right now because my boss ordered me to call you and mom." Tim said.

Tony's eyebrows shot up as Tim started yelling at his dad. Ziva gasped and even Gibbs was listening in. "Wh- What? Tim, I- I..." Patrick was speechless. His own son had basically said he hated him. Tim closed his eyes. He was speaking too rashly. There was no taking back what he had already said, but there was no way he could say anything to his father for a few more minuets.

"Just- Just put mom on the phone." Tim said quietly. Patrick made some grunting noise and his mother spoke. "Tim! What did you say to your father?" Katherine whispered. "I don't know... I'm sorry, mom. It all came out of my mouth so fast. I just-" Tim sighed. He loved his mom, but talking to her always meant talking to his father. "It's ok, Tim. Just cool down for a minuet. Why did you call?" she asked. Tim smiled. Mom's always knew what to say. "Look, there's no easy way to tell you this... the Navy Yard has been... targeted. It's going to explode in eighteen hours." Tim said, slower than before.

"Oh dear God. Can't you evacuate?" Katherine asked. "No. It's domestic terrorism. We can't evacuate or look for the bombs. We've got a plan, but It's really risky. It may or may not work." Tim explained. Katherine was shocked. Her only son was going to die. How does a parent respond to a phone call like that? Katherine had always expected the Navy to knock on her door. That was her worst fear, until Tim joined a federal agency. Then it became a call from the famous Leroy Jethro Gibbs, wishing his condolences.

"Well, if I know my boy then he's going to save everyone with his brilliant plan." Katherine said, wiping her eyes. Tim smiled and he heard his father speak in the background. "Can I talk to dad? I think I'm ready to apologize." Tim said as he walked back to his desk. "Sure, sweetie. I love you, Tim. Always remember that, ok?" Katherine said as she handed the phone to her husband. "Dad?" Tim said. "Timothy." his father said stiffly. 'Yep, I really screwed this one up.' he thought as he sat down and three pairs of eyes turned to him. "Listen, I'm really sorry about-" his apology was cut short. "No, Tim. I- I'm sorry. Sarah has told me countless times that I screwed up. I never believed her until now." Patrick interrupted. Tim nodded and his father continued.

"I saw that your team won an award last year. Highest arrest rate in the building." he said. At that, Tim smiled. "Yeah. We catch 'em almost every time." he said. Patrick laughed a little bit. "That's a good thing. So... what about this bomb?" he asked. Tim sighed. "These guys... targeted the Navy Yard. It's going up in flames in eighteen hours. But I have a plan. And hopefully, with a lot of luck, it will work and nobody will get killed." Tim said. "Well, I know for a fact that your plan will work because you thought of it. And you're a brilliant person, Timothy. Never ever forget that." Patrick praised his son. "Th- thanks, dad. That really means a lot." Tim said.

"Hey. What do you say that once this is all over and you catch the bad guys we come down and visit for a week? Have a little family reunion." Patrick said. "Yeah... I'd like that. I'll call you when we get this sorted out." Tim agreed. "I love you, Tim. I've always loved you, from the day you were born. Just remember that." Patrick said. Tim nodded. "I will, dad. I- I love you to." he said and they hung up. Tony and Ziva smiled. "Good job, McAwesome." Tony said. "Thanks, Tony." Tim responded he stood up to get a file from the cabinet when someone grabbed him from behind. "Group hug!" Tony said and he and Ziva practically tackled him. They all laughed and Gibbs just rolled his eyes and let it go on for a when they didn't stop, he had to do something.

"Hey! Seventeen hours!" Gibbs broke up the moment with his commanding sentence.

"Sorry, boss."

"Getting back to work, boss."

"Won't happen again, Gibbs."

**And that's the chapter! What did you think of the reunion? Let me know because every email I get makes me write faster! Thanks for reading, Owl**


	18. Chapter 18

**Terribly sorry for the long wait. Life has been absolutely insane and I sadly had to put off writing for about a week. But, hopefully, this update will make you happy. Enjoy!**

"Everything ready?" Gibbs asked. Tim sighed and wiped the sweat from his brow. He looked around to admire his work. "Yeah, I think so, Boss." he said, satisfied with his efforts. Gibbs nodded. "That the last fake bomb?" he asked again. "Yeah, it is. Now all we have to do is wait." Tim said as he got up off his knees and dusted himself off. "Are you sure this is gonna work, McGee?" Gibbs asked again, seriously. "There's too many lives at stake. I don't have any room to screw up." Tim answered. They walked out of the coffee shop three blocks away from NCIS and into the biting cold. It was barely the end of May, which meant that it should be getting warmer out. Tim shoved his hands farther into his pockets while Gibbs enjoyed a warm cup of coffee.

"Hey, Boss!" Tony said from behind them. They turned to face him and Ziva, who were jogging up to them. There was no one else outside; everyone was practicing their exit plans. Abby had looped the footage on all the security cameras and put in some from a few days ago so they didn't tip off the Gomez brothers of their plans. Tony and Ziva had just finished delivering medical kits and food and water to all the buildings, in case people were stuck in the tunnels for a long period of time. "So we got everything to where it needed to be and all of the buildings have everything they need." Tony said as he and his partner came up behind them. "Good work." Gibbs said quietly. "What do we do now, McLifesaver?" Tony asked again.

Tim rolled his eyes a little and sighed as he looked around the Yard. Everything was on him. Everyone was depending on him. Tim hated pressure. But, at the moment, he had no choice to accept that pressure was on top of him and wasn't going away for another ten hours. Everyone on the Navy Yard had been working all night, doing what ever. Abby and McGee perfected their plan and went over it again and again. They were sure it was going to work. Everybody at NCIS worked on securing all of the sensitive information as well as making sure the employees would be able to get out safely. Every other building tried to ensure that all of their things were in place and no one was going to get hurt. And now, at two in the morning, they had their escape plans all figured out. Everything was in order.

"Now Tony... Now I think we wait." Tim said as they walked back to the building. Ziva nodded. "I agree." she said. "Waiting is the hardest part." Tony shared. "Obviously. But what else can we do? We've practically perfected everything we could. We'll start putting people underground in two hours." Tim said. They walked into NCIS and saw what would have been classified as normal, if not for their current circumstances. There were agents sleeping on the floor, curled up on chairs and snoozing practically anywhere. Except for the fact that everyone was basically being held hostage and bombs were going to start exploding in ten hours.

"You know what really sucks about this whole thing?" Tony said to his co-workers. They all threw him the dirtiest look they could conjure, but nonetheless, Tony continued to speak. "The fact that this is all going down on a Friday is really not cool. I have tickets to the Nationals game tomorrow and I'm not gonna be able to even sell them now!" he complained. "Bombs are going off in less than ten hours from now and all you can think about is your stupid tickets to your stupid game? I can't believe you!" Ziva said. "They were really really expensive! And they were perfect seats! I have a right to be upset!" Tony argued. Ziva rolled her eyes and Gibbs spoke. "Shut up about your game, DiNozzo. You're gonna be there." he growled.

Gibbs, above all people, knew that the only option in a situation as risky as this one was to stay positive, to not let any room for doubt to accumulate. "You sure about that, Boss?" tony asked sadly. Gibbs slapped him so hard it echoed. They turned to face him. "Never loose hope, Tony. We are going to get this guy because that's what we do. All of you. Find something to hold on to, because you never ever loose hope. None of you have permission to die, you hear that? We are going to be ok. McGee, go get Abby and start finding these guys. I want you to have him before we start exploding. Tony and Ziva, start going through the plans with Special Agent Johnson and Scott's teams. I want everything ready to go when I get back!" Gibbs said as he walked off, leaving a shocked Tony, Ziva, and McGee in his dust. "Well then. Let's get to work before Gibbs rips our head off." Tony said. Tim nodded and headed for the elevator while Tony and Ziva gathered the group of agents together.

"Something's not right." Matt said. "Our plan?" Liam asked through a mouth full of cereal. "No, shut up. I have to figure this out by myself." Matt said. Lima rolled his eyes and went to eat his cereal elsewhere. Matt was studying everything, going over it all one last time. He was sure it was fool proof, all he had to do was go over to the back window and push a button in six hours.

He and Liam had gotten a good night's sleep and Liam's buddy Seth had bought two one way tickets to Australia last night. He delivered them along with their new identities this morning. The brothers were all packed and no one had looked for any bombs. None of them had gone off yet, so what was bothering him? Matt thought about it for a long time, but he couldn't place his finger on it. But something was definitely wrong. And he had to do something about it. Maybe an early surprise would help.

"Hey, Abbs, do you have a Caf-Pow for me?" Tim asked as he walked into her lab. No response. That was odd. "Abby?" Tim called again, this time a little louder. "Abby, are you in here?" Tim asked. Now he was worried. He went into the ballistics lab, hoping to find her. She was huddled up in the corner, holding Bert in her hands. "Abby!" Tim said.

"Shhh! Get down!" Abby said. Tim complied and crawled over to her. "What's going on?" he whispered. "I swear I saw our bad guys looking through the windows in my lab!" she said. Tim's eyes widened and he scurried out of the room and back into the main part of Abby's lab. She caught his shirt and he turned around. "What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Abby, get back in there!" he ordered. "Why?" Abby said defiantly. Tim looked her in the eyes and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Because when this whole thing started and I got poisoned and then you kissed me, I made a promise to myself that I would protect you no matter what as long as we worked together and if Matt or Liam Gomez is here on the Navy Yard, there is no way I am letting them get to you." Tim confessed. A smile poked through Abby's face and she kissed him on the cheek. "Go get 'em, Timmy."

**A bit of McAbby is always good for the soul, yes? What will come of the lab situation? Let me know what you thought of the last chapter because I love reviews! Thanks for reading and until next time, Owl.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Yay! A relatively on time update! Not much to say about this chapter... It's just a chapter... But Enjoy it anyway!**

Tim drew his weapon, just to be safe. He had only been gone from the lab for a couple minuets, but whoever it was, there was no way he was going to hurt Abby, not on his watch. There was only a few hours left and everyone was on edge. Tempers were running high and everyone was jumpy. Tim crouched down and approached the window slowly. There was no sign of anyone there or in any of the windows so he grabbed a chair and stood up to see if the intruder had left anything behind. And he had. A small slip of paper with writing on it. In the dim light of the dawn, Tim couldn't exactly make out what was on, but the coast was otherwise clear.

"Hey, Abbs, you can come out. Whoever he was, he's gone now but he left something behind. I'm gonna get Tony and go get it, ok?" Tim said as Abby came out of her hiding spot. Abby grabbed his arm before he left. "What if it's a trap? Timmy, you can't leave me alone! What if he's just standing above the window and you can't see him? What if he's waiting in the bushes and he's going to try and hurt you?" She worried aloud.

"Abby, I never made a promise about my safety, just yours. I would die for you, Abby. I would die for any of you guys. I'll get Gibbs down here, ok? Just please don't do anything else and if you see him again, you run out of this lab and get an agent." Tim said. His all business voice, witch didn't appear often, was very clear and apparent in his tone. Abby nodded and watched him walk out of the lab. She sat down in her chair and spun around, waiting.

"Boss! Boss?" Tim said as he rounded to corner and saw Gibbs was not in his desk. In fact, neither was Tony. "Have you seen him, Ziva?" Tim asked. She shook her head silently and went back to her work. "McGee." Gibbs said from behind him. Tim jumped and turned around. "Boss, I was down in Abby's lab and she said she saw them in the window. I went over to look and I saw a note on the ground. I was going to get Tony to come help me check it out." Tim stated. Gibbs looked at him.

"Then why are you telling me this?" he inquired. "Abby was pretty freaked out. She said she didn't want to be alone so I was wondering if maybe you could stay with her?" Tim asked. He had hardly ever asked anything of Gibbs, and most of the time he just stared and left you to figure out if it was his yes stare or his no stare. But this time, thankfully was different. "Go, get DiNozzo. He's down in Human Resources. I'll be with Abby." he said as he rushed off. Tm nodded and jogged down the hall to the HR office. He opened the door to see Tony getting very comfortable with Sandy at the front desk.

"This isn't what it looks like, McGee, I swear! Oh God, Gibbs isn't out there is he?" Tony said as he jumped up and tried to find his shirt. Sandy ran off into the back of the office. "Really? Because what I saw was you on the floor kissing Sandy with no shirt on." Tim said. Tony finally found it and he started to slip it on over his head when Tim pulled him out of the office. "McGee! What are you doing? I have no shirt on! Ouch!" Tony yelled as Tim grabbed his ear. Everyone looked over at the pair as Tim pulled him to the elevator. Tony heard someone, who was undoubtedly Ziva, whistle as the two walked into the elevator and Tim pushed the down button and the elevator closed. Tony slipped the rest of his shirt on and flipped the switch. He was really angry.

"McGee! What the hell was that for? I had no shirt on and you decided to drag me through the office?" he yelled. Tim stared at him for a second while he decided how to answer. "I'm sorry Tony." he said after a while. "Yeah, you should be sorry! That's not right, McGee." Tony yelled again. "Well you shouldn't have been with Sandy in the first place! Bombs are going off in five hours and you're about to get down with an agent?" Tim fell silent in the black of the elevator. They both looked down at the floor for a second.

"I really am sorry, Tony. It's just.. All of this stuff going on and I know that everybody's really really stressed out and I know that everybody deals with it in different ways, so... " Tim trailed off and Tony picked up. "No, I'm sorry. That whole thing was... really wrong." Tim looked at Tony in surprise. "Everyone has to have some kind of moral code. I'm not a horrible person, McGee." Tony explained. He flipped the switch, obviously satisfied with their talk, if you could call it that.

"So what am I doing here?" Tony asked after a second. "Abby saw what she thought were our guys outside her lab. I found a note outside the window and you and I are going to retrieve it." Tim explained briefly just as the elevator dinged and they stepped out into the lobby. They nodded to Britten at the front desk as they walked by. He smiled and went back to his work. "Ok, so how do you know this note wasn't already there? What if it was just a piece of paper?" Tony questioned. Tim sighed and spoke.

"Because I could see ink on it and it was precisely folded. And we don't believe in-" "Coincidences, I got it." Tony finished. They stepped out of the building and walked down the street to where Abby's windows were. Tony squatted down and knocked on the window. Abby and Gibbs looked up and Abby smiled and waved. The two men waved back and returned the smile. She and Gibbs held their gaze out the window and looked on in curiosity. "Ok." Tim said, mostly to himself. He put a latex glove on his hand and picked up the note.

"What's it say?" Tony said. Tim unfolded it while Abby and Gibbs looked on from the lab and Tony peered over the top. The paper was thick like card stock and the note had been written in beautiful calligraphy. "It just has one word." he said. "Well what word is that, McGee?" Tony asked impatiently. Tim gulped audibly. "Surprise." He said as he pressed it up against the window for Gibbs and Abby to read.

**Surprise! Hope you liked the newest update! Let me know what you thought because reviews make me write faster :) Thanks for reading! ~Owl**


	20. Chapter 20

**I give you the next chapter! Just as a little update- I'm planning on trying to wrap this one up in less than five chapters, so we are nearing the end! There's a little bit of everything in this chapter. Enjoy!**

"What could surprise mean?" Tony asked, looking over his shoulder. He was a little scared, and he had every right to be. Something sparkled in the sunlight on top of a building across the Yard, but Tony disregarded it. He and Tim stood up and the sparkle was momentarily gone. "It could mean just about anything." Tim replied. Tony looked around Tim to see what Gibbs and Abby were doing on her lab when he saw it. There was a red dot on his chest. "McGee get down!" Tony said, pushing him down and stepping in front of him right as the shot rang out.

One second, Gibbs was hugging Abby. The next, Tim was on the ground. And the second after that, Tony was there too. Although it looked more like Tim was pushed and Tony fell. Gibbs saw this and his mind came to one logical conclusion. He let go of Abby, leaving her confused, and bolted out of the lab. There was no time for the elevator, one of his men was hurt. Abby looked up and out the window and saw Tim kneeling down over Tony, his hands on Tony's chest. "Tony!" she yelled. Tim heard her and looked up, the panic and fear evident in his expression.

Matt smiled and packed up the sniper. He thought that was one hell of a surprise. Four hours before bombs went off and someone takes a figurative bullet. And better yet, the only one who had the capability of finding him. Tim would be out for quite sometime. He wouldn't even feel it when he died. "You're so evil, Matty. You're going in the textbooks. Brothers who blow stuff up together." he said to himself as he skillfully slid down the building and slipped past the guards. "You're so evil."

"Tony! Tony, wake up!" Tim yelled. Gibbs rounded the corner, silently panting. Tim looked up and Gibbs saw an expression he'd seen before. Kelly made a face like that when she found out her dad was leaving. Tim looked like someone had died on his watch, but there was no blood. Tony was breathing slowly and he was lying on the ground, perfectly still. He looked like he was dead.

"What's wrong with him?" Gibbs said, kneeling down on the other side of his agent. "I- I have no clue, boss. He turned in front of me and then told me to get down and pushed me on to the concrete. Then I heard a shot ring out and he landed on top of me. I think I sprained my wrist again." Tim said. Gibbs checked Tony's pulse. It was fairly normal.

"Boss, what if-" Tim started but stopped it sounded a little crazy. "What?" Gibbs almost yelled. "What if one of the Gomez brothers tried to tranquilize me? It makes sense. I'm our best shot at finding them, but if I'm unconscious, it would make it harder for Abby to locate them." Tim explained. Gibbs nodded, agreeing with McGee. "And Tony probably saw a marker on me and he thought it was going to be a bullet-" Tim stopped again and looked down at Tony. "Boss, Tony was going to die for me. He was wiling to die for me." Tim said. "I think I'm gonna be sick." he said, kneeling down and running his hands through his greasy hair. "McGee, everybody on this team would take a bullet for you. No matter what DiNozzo makes you think, you are part of this family. And we protect family." Gibbs said.

He looked around. "This just got very personal." he muttered. Tim got up and nodded. "We're gonna kill these guys." he said. Tim squatted down next to Tony and slung one of his arms around his neck and picked him up like he used to do with Sarah. Sure, she hated it because it made her look kind of like a baby, but it was an effective way to carry a large person. Gibbs was shocked that McGee could lift a guy like DiNozzo, but he didn't question it. Gibbs went in front to open the doors for Tim as he carried Tony into the building. It felt so weird carrying him like he was... dead. The elevator dinged and the two of them stepped out in to the squadroom.

Ziva looked over and she seemed devastated. Tony looked like he was dead. "Oh God... What happened? Is Tony ok?" she asked as Tim set him gently on the floor. Tim nodded. "He's fine. I'll explain it later." Tim said as he reached to call Ducky. Ziva rushed to Tony's side as he still didn't stir. "Ducky?... Yeah, I need you up here like now... Tony was tranquilized... Ok, thanks." Tim said as he hung up. He wasn't too sure how he should be feeling right now. Ziva was sitting next to the seemingly lifeless Tony, trying to wake him up.

"Come on, Tony, wake up!" she slapped him across the face, but he still didn't stir. "It's no use, Ziva. He's out cold." Tim said. Ziva sighed and leaned up against the filing cabinet next to her partner. Tim sat down beside her. "That should be me, you know." he said, staring at the hole in Tony's jacket where the tranquilizer had gone in. Ziva looked up at him puzzled. "Whoever did this was aiming at me. Tony saw a red dot on my chest and he pushed me out of the way as he fired." Tim said, a tear cascading down his cheek. He rubbed his nose and greeted Ducky as he stepped out of the elevator.

"Timothy! What happened?" he said when he saw Tony on the floor. "We were outside when the terrorists tried to tranquilize me. Tony saw it and jumped in front of me." Tim said. Ducky nodded and made his way over to Tony and Ziva in the bullpen. "Where did it puncture?" Ducky asked as he began to examine Tony. "His right shoulder. There was no evidence of a dart or anything like that when we looked for one." Tim supplied. "It could have been manufactured to disintegrate on impact." Ziva suggested. Tim nodded as Ducky pulled a needle out of his bag.

"This should get him up sooner than expected." he said as he carefully inserted a liquid into the vial. "Well how long will that take?" tim asked. Ducky shrugged. "It depends on how long he is supposed to be unconscious according to the tranquilizer." he answered. Ducky stuck the needle in Tony's arm.

"Now we wait?" Ziva asked to no one in particular. Ducky nodded and stood up. "Now we wait."

**And that's it for now! Just in time for the holidays, too! How perfect. Happy Thanksgiving to all those celebrating it, and thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought because those reviews make my day! Until next time, Owl**


	21. Chapter 21

**Yay! Next chapter! Things are about to get interesting...**

An hour passed before Tim looked away from his computer screen. Tony getting hurt had given him and Abby all the extra motivation they needed. They traced documents until they were wiped from the face of technology. The ran facial recognition software until the faces disappeared. They called in favors from everyone they knew. They reconstructed every bit of information they had and Tim and Abby still couldn't find Matt and Liam.

"We can't give up, Timmy. Your plan doesn't work without it." Abby said, trying to find any evidence that the two brothers even existed, which was hard enough. "Hey." Tim said, stopping for a second. He turned to face her. "It's our plan, Abby. I can't take all the credit." he said with a gentle smile. Abby closed her eyes. "For once, just once, I wish that I didn't have to think I was going to loose all of you. I wish for just one day, one case, where I don't have to worry about you getting hurt, Timmy. I wish there was no way on this earth that I could loose you." Abby said as she turned towards him.

"And now I'm going to promise myself that I will never ever let you go, Timothy McGee." she spoke as she kissed him again. Tim's eyes widened then he fell into a warm embrace with her. He did it. He had finally found her. Abby was... everything he had ever wanted and ten years ago he was too young and naive to realize it. "Looks like we have a lot of promises to keep." Tim said as he pulled away, his arms still wrapped around her. Abby smiled and pecked him on the cheek. "We should probably get back to work, since we have less than two hours." Tim said rushed. Abby furiously nodded and they went back to their respective computers.

"That was..." Abby said after a few seconds. "Yeah." Tim agreed. They worked in silence for less than five minuets before someone spoke again. "Abby, I think... I think I'm in love... w- with you." Tim said hesitantly. Abby grinned and looked over at him. "I love you too, Tim."

"When the hell is DiNozzo going to wake up?" Gibbs said from his desk. He was obviously irritated. "Soon, I hope. It it very scary to look over at him between breaths. He seems to be dead." Ziva said. At this point there was nothing they could do. It was up to Tim and Abby. Cybercrimes and everybody else in the basement was already headed towards the bunkers, which left the major task of finding the terrorists to the two of them. They only had approximately an hour an a half left. And in that hour and a half, Tony had to wake up, all the agents had to be in ready position, McGee and Abby had to find the Gomez brothers, and everybody had to be underground across the entire Navy Yard.

"Gibbs! Is DiNozzo ok?" Vance asked as he ran down the steps with a picture of his family in one hand and a map and his briefcase in the other. "He won't be if he doesn't wake up in less than an hour." Gibbs growled. He had half the mind to go over there and slap the crap out of Tony. "I'm going down to the bunkers now. Cybercrimes, autopsy, and the armory are already there. Scuito's lab is next. Gibbs, they can work in those bunkers. There's power down there." Gibbs shook his head. "Nope. They're staying and they know it. McGee built the damn bunkers, he can find his own way down there. Go, Leon, get out of here. Trust me." Gibbs said. Ziva watched the two men stare at each other before Vance broke away and made for the stairs. Gibbs rolled his eyes and walked over to Tony, who was still lying on the floor.

"Are you going to slap him?" Ziva asked. "Because I already tried. It did not work." she said again. Gibbs disregarded her. "Ziva, have you ever seen me slap DiNozzo?" he asked. "Around once a week, yes." Ziva answered, puzzled. "Have you ever seen me slap him across the face?" he asked again. Ziva shook her head. "No." "Exactly. No matter if he's conscious or not, this will sting his pride so much that he will wake up immediately." Gibbs said.

Ziva didn't understand his logic in the slightest, but there was no sense in arguing. Gibbs approached Tony and squatted down beside him. "Wake up, Tony." he said once in his ear. "Wake up!" he yelled. Nothing happened so Ziva turned away. She knew what was coming, and she did not want to witness Tony getting slapped. She heard the sting of skin smacking skin and the silenced yelps of a grown man.

"Tony!" Ziva exclaimed, getting up. "McGee? W- Where's McGee? Is he ok?" Tony asked, sounding tired. "McGee is fine. We are all fine. Are you ok, Tony?" Ziva asked as she kneeled down beside him. Gibbs helped him sit up agains the cold filing cabinet as he spoke. "Except for the burning sensation on the right side of my face, I feel fine." Tony said, looking pointedly at Gibbs. "Good." the man replied. "Where are McGee and Abby?" Tony inquired. "Looking for the men who did this to you." Ziva said.

"What did they do to me? Was I abducted? Did they probe me?" Tony asked. "No, Tony. They tranquilized you." Ziva said, laughing a bit. Completely dazed and confused, Tony DiNozzo was still funny as ever. "Oh. That was anti-climatic." he said, crestfallen. Gibbs and Ziva rolled their eyes. "How much time do we have?" he asked. Gibbs looked down at his watch. "It's past 0930, Tony. We don't have a lot of time left so you need to wake the hell up. Do some jumping jacks and push ups or what ever you do before your dates." Gibbs said. Ziva snickered as she helped her partner to his feet.

"Ok, Boss. Whatever you say, I do. I am your shadow. Speed. I am speed. I am Lightning McQueen!" Tony said, jumping up and down. Ziva and Gibbs stared at Tony blankly. Obviously, they had never seen Cars. "Cars? Anyone? Early 2000's? Owen Wilson? Oh come on people! Cars is a great movie." Tony shook his head. "Ziver, make sure he's awake and a-ok." Gibbs said as he walked over to Scott and Johnston's teams.

"What is a-ok?" Ziva asked Tony as he sat down at his desk. "It's just... I don't know, Ziva. It's an American thing. You can't really explain it, you just... know what it means." Tony tried, and failed, to clarify. Ziva sighed. "So what do I have to do to ensure you are a-ok?"She asked. "Gibbs probably wants us to be ready to go, even though we have an hour to kill." Tony said. "Oh." Ziva said, only a little less confused. "DiNozzo! David! Get over here!" Gibbs yelled over to them. They exchanged a glance before getting up and jogging over to where the boss stood in the middle of the room, eight other agents surrounding him.

"Scott." Gibbs looked for the man. Neil Scott was a good friend and a great agent, and Gibbs trusted him enough to be on his team, except that would never happen. "Here." Scott said when Gibbs couldn't find him. "Your team's safe spot is here." Gibbs said, holding out a blueprint. He gave copies to everyone so no one would get lost.

"This is just like The Goonies." Tony whispered, quietly unfolding the paper he was given. "This is nothing like The Goonies!" Ziva whispered back sharply. "Yeah, because you've _totally_ seen that movie." Tony said sarcastically. "I have! The Goonies is about kids trying to save their homes from being bought out by finding treasure." Ziva retorted. Tony was defeated. "True." "Hey! Are you two done?" Gibbs looked over at them. "Sorry, boss."

"Alright. Liam!" Matt called to his brother. "Yeah?" he said, pausing his music. "You ready to go?" he asked. Liam bounced into the room. "Just gotta sling this over my shoulder." Liam gestured to the duffle bag near the door. Matt smiled. "Good job. Start wiping the place down. I don't wanna be here any longer than we have to. It's 11 o'clock. One more hour and we win." Matt said, sitting back down. He downed a beer in anticipation while Liam started to get rid of any evidence they were there.

"Hey, Liam, did you print out our boarding pass- what the hell?" Matt was cut off by a loud noise and chaos from the Navy Yard. He rushed to the telescope, but couldn't see anything because of the smoke. Liam sped to the window. "That's not supposed to happen, right Matt?" Matt shook his head. "They're going off early. That's impossible! You stay here, I'm going to check things out." Matt said. "Wait!" Liam called out the door. "What?" Matt yelled, already in the hallway.

"Let me go. You've gotten all the fresh air, I haven't gotten out of this crappy apartment since we got here. I'll be discrete, I promise." Liam pleaded. Matt sighed and stormed back in. "Fine. But if you get caught..." Matt didn't bother to finish his sentence. Liam knew what would happen.

**So... what do you think? What's going to happen next? Let me know because I love reviews! Until the next chapter, Owl.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Please don't hate me! I'm so terribly sorry! Life has just been... amazingly crazy lately. Too many tests and other school stuff and I've barely been home the past like two weeks so I apologize for the lapse in updates. Plus, I've hit a little bit of a wall in the story but that is being torn down slowly. Anyways, I made this chapter super duper long because a) I felt really guilty and b) I needed to fit a lot of information in and there was no place I could just break it off so the next few are also fairly long. That being said, I am almost finished with the story. Enough of my blathering. Enjoy the next chapter!**

"Why didn't we just get in the room?" Tony said, groaning as he examined the trickle of blood running down his arm. "Because you are stupid." Ziva retorted. "Thanks." Tony said sarcastically. There was silence as they heard more explosions. They huddled closer together as the building violently shook again. Tony looked at Ziva, making sure they were both ok. "You hurt?" he whispered. "No. I am ok. Are you alright?" Ziva asked in return. "Just peachy." Tony said. They fell silent again.

"Tony-" Ziva started. She stopped and sucked in a breath of dusty air. "If we could stop time, do all of this over again, would you?" she asked. Tony thought about the question for a second, then answered. "No. I wouldn't. Because then I wouldn't be sitting here with you." he said as he groped for her hand. He found it and interlaced his fingers with hers. Ziva smiled and pecked him on the cheek. "I know." she said. Tony smiled his cocky grin and leaned back against the cubical wall.

"Did you see Gibbs go in there?" Tony asked after a few minuets passed. "I find it very hard to believe that Gibbs would go in before you and I, Tony." Ziva voiced. "Yeah... Yeah I agree. So then why are we out here again?" Tony said, his head throbbing. "Because you are stupid." Ziva answered the same as before. Tony sighed angrily. "Whose fricken idea was this anyway? 'Oh yeah! Lets blow up our buildings before the other guys do!' Whose brilliant mind came up with that?" Tony said, clearly angry.

"McGee's did. Now shut the hell up and get on the ground!" "Boss? What are you doing out here?" Tony whispered, surprised to see Gibbs. "Tony, look!" Ziva said, pointing to the back of the building. She couldn't tell who, but there were other people crawling through the dust. It became obvious that their plan had been set in motion. "McLocator found them again?" Tony asked no one in particular.

"You doubting me, Tony?" said Tim as he came up behind his partner. "Why do people keep showing up out of nowhere?" Tony said, very confused. "Come on. They're in a building four streets ahead of us." Tim said, ignoring his partner. "That far away?" Ziva asked, wondering how they could possibly see across four streets and a park. "The building is at least ten feet taller than the rest." McGee explained. Ziva nodded as she began crawling behind her boss. She looked around and took in what was happening.

Scott and his team were slowly making their way down to the stairwell, while Johnson was ushering his team towards the back of the building, where they would meet up with Scott later on. Team Gibbs, however, was heading the raid. Tim had a piece of paper crumpled up in his hand. Tony noticed it and decided to ask about the white knuckles clenched around it.

"You ok?" Tony said, looking pointedly at Tim's hand. "What? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm cool." Tim responded quickly, glancing down at his hand. He loosened his grip slightly. "Where's Abby?" Tony whispered. The amount of dust in the air around them was making Tony pretty uncomfortable. As the agents approached their escape point, Tim answered.

"She's staying in the bunkers. I told her to stay down there until I called her. It's funny, I get all four bars down there" He answered. Tony smiled slightly and took a stab at what was written on the paper. A note from Abby. Tony started coughing and Gibbs came up behind him and clasped his hands over his agents' mouth. "Sorry... boss. It's pretty... dusty... 'round... here." Tony said, breathing heavily. Gibbs nodded and made him go down first. The escape route for Gibbs' team was well thought out, thanks to McGee.

All you had to do was open the panel in the door that was close to the elevator and sit down in the hammock. Then you pulled a release lever and the person in the chair was lowered to the ground. It was quite simple, yet brilliant at the same time. Tim and Abby had had a little too much fun 'testing it' earlier that day as Tony remembered. Once Tony got to ground level, he climbed out the pre-broken window and jumped three feet to the ground. Ziva went next, followed by McGee. Gibbs was, of course, the last one out.

As the team entered the bunker through the second entrance, Tony's lungs cleared out slowly but surely and he was able to breathe again. They made their way around the tunnels, McGee serving as a guide. Maybe their plan would work.

When Abby heard the footsteps in the corridor, she immediately opened the door for the team. But that's not who was waiting for her.

McGee was leading the way, since he had been down here before. Tony was behind him, then Ziva. Gibbs was bringing up the rear. As they came to a six way intersection, Tony sighed. "Please tell me you know which one to take." he asked.

"The second one is where we need to be. It has all of the spare equipment." Tim said, thinking back almost eleven years. He was surprised he still remembered all of the routes down here. Tony shoved his way past Tim and took over. Ziva had also gotten in front of McGee somehow and was right behind Tony. McGee sighed, realizing there was no point in fighting about it. Tim handed the keys to Tony when they approached the airlock door. Tony fumbled with the keys before Ziva reached over and turned it the opposite way.

"Thanks." Tony grumbled as he and Ziva went into the room to get geared up. Tim and Gibbs were about to enter as well when they heard something echo through the tunnels. McGee's hand moved from the door, letting it close. Tony and Ziva were trapped in the room, which was no bigger than the observation room upstairs. Gibbs and Tim knew exactly what sound it was and they hit the ground running.

It was Abby, and she was in trouble. Tim took the lead because he knew where she was. Gibbs followed behind McGee, who was running faster than Gibbs had ever seen him. McGee rounded the corner too quickly and he slipped on the dirt floor. He ran into the concrete wall hard and fast, yelping in pain. His jacket tore and revealed a fresh wound from the sharp and crudely paved concrete. Gibbs was almost positive he heard something crack, but Tim stopped for less than a second, then kept running. He even kept his grip on his gun.

"McGee, are you ok?" Gibbs said, winded. McGee just nodded his head and ran faster. They kept running, both not realizing that Tony and Ziva were locked in the storage closet. Tim slowed down and rounded the final corner just as Abby screamed again. Tim put his gun up and Gibbs rushed in front of him. There was a man with a gun pointed at Abby. Gibbs shoved his gun into the back of the man's neck.

"Put it down or I'll blow you sky high, Liam." Gibbs threatened, pushing the cold tip of his gun a little farther into the kid's neck. "Ok... I- I'll put it down." Liam put his hands up and slowly lowered his weapon. Tim, who also had his gun pointed at Liam, rushed over to Abby and hugged her, yelping when she squeezed his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking into her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. What happened to you? Tim, that cut is like six inches long! Where's Tony and Ziva?" Abby asked. Tim whipped around to look at Gibbs, who was holding Liam up against the wall.

"We locked Tony and Ziva in!" he exclaimed, taking off again. McGee swore in his head. How could he forget about them? He grimaced as more searing pain shot through his shoulder. He could feel the blood soaking into his jacket and running down his arm. He hoped he would make it to Tony and Ziva.

Abby was with Gibbs, who was probably doing more than roughing Liam up. Tim was the one with the keys anyways. Five minuets later, McGee finally found his way back to the storage room. His white sleeve was almost completely red, and Tim was fighting to stay conscious. He heard the muffled yelling and pounding on the door as he began to unlock it. The key finally turned and Tony and Ziva came rushing out.

"Thank God, Mc- McGee? Are you alright? What happened?" Tony exclaimed when he saw his partner supporting himself against the wall, a pool of blood on the floor below his right arm. He slid down the wall and sat on the floor, gripping his arm.

"Abby... Gibbs... got... Liam... hit... shoulder... running... lots of... running... really... hurts..." Tim managed to get out before he passed out. Tony and Ziva stared at each other. Gibbs, Abby, and a terrorist were on one side of the tunnels, and Tony, Ziva, and an unconscious McGee were on the other. "Well, this is great." Tony sighed as he got to work on Tim.

"Ziva, go see if there's a first aid kit in there, we need to stop the bleeding." he said. Ziva nodded as she propped the door open and searched for something. "Here." she said, tossing him the metal box. "Thanks." he said, opening it. He grabbed all the bandaids and threw them onto the floor. "Tony, are you qualified to be doing this?" Ziva asked, looking on worried. Tony turned to face her.

"Well, no, but if you'd prefer to wait for Tim to die because we don't have his consent to treat a huge cut on his arm, by all means, let me know and I will stop." Tony snapped. Ziva looked at the ground. "I am sorry, Tony. It's just- To have him survive all of this to get killed by a gash six feet underground seems..." she trailed off. "Yeah, I know." Tony replied. He ripped the sleeve off Tim's jacket and then his now completely red dress shirt sleeve to reveal the full wound.

"Holy hell." he said when he saw it. "We should probably clean his arm off." Tony said as Ziva squatted down next to him to help. "There's a utility sink in the back. I'll find a washcloth." Ziva remembered. "Come on, Tim. Hang in there, buddy. You're gonna be fine, I promise." Tony said as he ripped all of the bandaids out of their packaging.

Ziva came back with a sopping wet white washcloth. "Really? White? You couldn't find anything else?" Tony said as she handed him the cloth. "At least I found something." Ziva countered. He carefully applied pressure, trying to remember anything he was taught in all those first aid classes he'd been forced to take over the years.

"You wouldn't happen to have any first aid training, would you?" Tony asked. Ziva shook her head. "Well then. Looks like we're gonna have to wing it." Tony said, almost finished cleaning Tim's arm off. He took all of the bandaids and put them over the still bleeding wound. Ziva helped to unwrap the ace bandage and encased Tim's bandaid-covered arm in gauze. They wrapped it tightly around is arm and sat and waited. "What do we do now?" Ziva asked. The bleeding hadn't stopped, but it wasn't gushing like earlier.

"I have no clue, Zi. No clue whatsoever." Tony said.

**And scene! School is still crazy, but I'm off for break right now so I will try and get the rest of the next chapter typed up and posted on the weekend. Thanks so much for sticking with the story! ~Owl**


	23. Chapter 23

**I know. I'm ever so sorry that I lied to you, my amazing readers. I feel horrible, but, as promised, I have another longer chapter. I'm not even going to tell you my excuses because, let's be honest, it's pretty much the same story every time. Computer problems, writer's block, Christmas, all that jazz. Things are starting to come to a close! I have pretty much the rest of the story completely outlined and everything is finally shaping up. Only two more chapters after this one! Enjoy!**

"Where's your brother?" Gibbs said. Liam looked down at the floor and squeezed his eyes shut. "Where's your brother!" Gibbs screamed. He yelped and looked up at Gibbs. His lips were moving, but no sound came out. "Where is he!" Gibbs yelled. Abby sat on the floor, quietly listening to music on her phone. Gibbs slapped Liam across the face and Abby cringed.

No matter how much she wanted him to pay for what he tried to do, she still hated to see people get hurt. Even if they did deserve it. Tears were streaming down Liam's face when he tried to answer. "We- w- were stay- staying in a- an a- apartment building, b- but Matt's l- long g- gone by now. " he said between sobs. Gibbs stared at him and he cringed again. He nudged him onto the ground and turned away.

"McGee! DiNozzo! David!" he yelled. Abby looked up with worried eyes. "Where are they?" she asked. Gibbs audibly sighed. "Not too sure, Abbs."

**~xXxXxXxXxXxXx~**

"How are we going to find our way through these tunnels?" Ziva asked. She was studying the map very closely, but things overlapped and ran into each other so much that there was no way she could decipher what lines went with each other. "Like I said before, Ziva. I don't know. I didn't even know we had these tunnels until like today." Tony said. He was sitting next to Tim, applying pressure to his friend's wound. The bleeding still hadn't stopped yet.

"Do you think he will make it?" Ziva asked, moving so she sat on the other side of Tim. Tony shook his head sadly. "I don't know, Ziva. I want to be optimistic, but it's real hard when I see all of this blood." he said, looking down at his hands and the floor. He looked back up at her. "I have to save him. I- I have to."

Ziva could see the hurt in his eyes and hear how desperate he was in his voice. "But you already have, Tony. You took that tranquilizer for him. If you hadn't done that, we would not be able to find the men who are responsible for this." Ziva tried to comfort him. Tony shook his head. "No, Ziva. He carried me in. There's no way McGee is strong enough to pick me up." Tony defended. "An adrenaline rush could have contributed to his extra strength. It is very common to have heightened senses and abilities when your body has all of that extra energy." Ziva reasoned. "I still have to save him, Ziva. He's family." Tony told her. "Anything for family." Ziva finished. Tony smiled a bit. "Anything." he said.

They sat there for a while, staring at each other. Ziva and Tony switched sides when Tony's hands started cramping up from squeezing Tim's arm. Time passed. "Hey. We seriously need to get out of here. McGee's fading fast, I can tell." Ziva said. Tony looked at her incredulously. "Yes, because I can just whip my phone out and-" Tony cut himself off. "And call Abby! That's it!" Tony said. "How?" Ziva asked.

"Tim said his phone got four bars down here! We can call Abby and she can get a fix on our phones and then she can guide us through the tunnels!" Tony exclaimed. He jumped up. "We're saved!" Ziva said. Tony stopped jumping around and looked down at Tim. "Not yet." he said as he moved to pick his friend up. "You call; I'll carry." Tony said. Ziva nodded in agreement as she took her phone out. She looked at Tony and smiled. "Four bars." She called Abby.

The familiar sound of her ringtone penetrated Abby's music. "How do I get reception down here?" she muttered to herself. She had gone back into the room only a few minuets ago, so the team could go and catch the other, more dangerous Gomez brother. Abby and Director Vance had been sitting in uncomfortable silence for what seemed like an hour. Vance looked over, but said nothing as Abby answered her phone. "Hello?" she asked curiously. She had forgotten to look at the caller ID and had no clue as to whom she was speaking to.

"Abby! Thanks goodness you answered!" Ziva yelled into the phone. "Ziva! Oh my gosh are you and Tony and McGee ok?" She asked frantically. Ziva glanced down at Tony, who was moving McGee so he could pick him up. "Tony and I are fine, Abby." Ziva said. "On no... Timmy. Is he ok?" Abby asked again, even faster than the last time. "Abby, we need to get McGee to a hospital, but Tony or I cannot find our way out of here. We need you to trace my cell phone and guide us out of here." Ziva said. Abby sat down at her chair while Vance looked on in curiosity. "Ok. I'm on it." She said, bringing up a trace. She pulled up a digital map of the tunnels and began to figure out where they were, and what the fastest way to get them out would be.

After a few minuets of silence, and careful calculations, Abby spoke. "Ok, guys. Keep walking straight. When you get to the intersection, take the path to the far right." Abby instructed them. "Alright, Tim. Hang in there buddy." She heard Tony say in the background. "Put me on speaker." Abby said. "Why?" Ziva asked as they began walking. the took a left turn, but had yet to get to an intersection. "Just do it." Abby said in a stern voice. Ziva's eyebrows shot up. It was very unlike Abby to give orders, but everyone was under a lot of stress at the moment. "Ok." Ziva complied. "You're on speaker." Ziva said as she and Tony came to the intersection. Ziva led the way as they continued walking. "Abby, we just took the right turn. What next?" Tony said, slightly struggling to keep McGee on his back.

"I see that. Hold on a sec... Ok, the next intersection is coming up in a few seconds. It's split into six different tunnels." Abby said. "We are here now, Abby." Ziva said as they came out to an open area. "Right. If you're counting from the right side, it's the third one over. It should start going uphill soon After that, you just keep going to the very far left no matter what and you should be out in like fifteen minuets." Abby told them. Ziva glanced back at the guys and sighed, worried. She put her hand on the speaker. "I do not think Tim has fifteen minuets." She said quietly, Tony nodding in silent agreement.

"Ok. Thank you Abby. Where is Gibbs?" Ziva asked. "The last time I saw him, he was with Liam. I don't know where he was planning on taking him though. Try calling him."Abby suggested. Vance stood up and opened the door to check of gibbs was still out there by any chance. he hadn't heard any screaming in a while, so he figured the two of them had left, but you can't be sure until you check. His suspicions were confirmed as he sighed and sat back down. Abby looked up at him and bit her lip. "You have to save him. I- I can't loose anymore of you. Not today."she ordered. "We will, Abby. I promise." Ziva said. "And I promise to, Abby." Tony voiced from behind his partner. Abby smiled. "Ok." she said before hanging up. Ziva slipped her phone back into her pocket and they continued to walk. Tony lifted the man up higher on his back and looked at Ziva. "Alright. Let's go. McGee's waiting."

**~xXxXxXxXxXxXx~**

Ten, instead of fifteen, minuets later, Tony, Ziva and McGee stepped out of the tunnels and into complete chaos. Firetrucks were everywhere, sirens were blaring. People were running around, and dust from the buildings being shaken hung in the air. They ended up right across the street from the NCIS building, behind the storage facility where the agency kept all of their paper records. "Well, that's convenient." Tony said as they jogged over to the parking lot. With everything else that was happening, no one payed them much attention as the got into Tony's car and sped off. Ziva couldn't help but remember what happened only three days ago, except Tony was in the backseat as well. McGee didn't deserve all of this. None of them did. Yet it was happening. "You're a fast driver, Tony." Ziva commented as he ran a red light.

"Yeah, well, when my partner is dying in the backseat, I'm not sure traffic laws apply to me at this moment unless I hit someone." he said, eyes still on the road and grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Which you won't." Ziva said, almost sarcastically. Tony nodded. "Of course not." he agreed. As they pulled into the emergency wing of the hospital, Tony got a call on his cell phone. He immediately answered it. "Who is it?" Ziva whispered. "Gibbs." Tony answered. Ziva nodded and went in to talk to the doctors, leaving Tony standing outside with some random guy who was smoking a cigarette.

"Hey, boss. Where are you?" Tony said. "The city morgue." he said. "Who died? Not our terrorist, I hope?" Tony asked, curious. "No, he's the murderer. Seth Conners was working for Matt and Liam. He's the one who stopped McGee and Abby from finding them." Gibbs said. "So you're thinking that Matt realized his brother was going to rat him out and he was trying to tie up loose ends?" Tony figured. "Yep. Where are you?" Gibbs asked. "Hospital." Tony answered tersely. "Why?" gibbs asked again. "McGee. That gash on his arm is really bad. The last I saw him he was unconscious from the loss of blood and lack of oxygen, probably. Ziva's in there with the doctors right now." Tony said. Gibbs sighed. There was a long pause, then Tony spoke. "I'll call you later when I get an update." Tony said. "You call Abby, Ducky, and Jimmy, let them know what happened, make sure they're all ok." he ordered. "Got it, boss." Tony said, hanging up and going inside the hospital.

**Not too huge of a cliffhanger, but hey, not everything can be suspenseful. Thank you so so so so much to my ever faithful readers who have stuck with the story the entire time. I really appreciate it! Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in a few days, I promise before the weekend. ~Owl**


	24. Chapter 24

**I know. It's been like two months, and you've given up all hope of me finishing this story. But fear not! I am back from the dead! So, with that, here's the next chapter! Oh, and by the way- the next chapter will be the last! On that note, Enjoy!**

Three hours later, Tim woke up to a room full of worried people. Abby was holding his hand, Tony and Ziva were sitting next to him (and each other) vigilantly. Gibbs was pacing back and forth at the foot of his hospital bed, and Ducky and Jimmy stood a few feet away.

"Did we... catch 'em?" he slowly said, startling everyone. They all turned to look at him and they crowded around his bed. "Tim, you're awake!" Abby shouted. "Mc-" Tony started, but was cut off by the man in the bed. "No. Stop. Did we get them?" he asked, trying to make his voice as firm as possible.

It wasn't very convincing, but no one was going to argue with the guy in the hospital bed. The agents all exchanged glances and looked to Gibbs. "No. Vance handed it over to Scott's team. They conducted the raid. He wasn't there, but they're going to intercept him at the airport, along with Johnson's men." Gibbs admitted. Tim's face fell and he sighed, disappointed. "We've got the weekend off, Probie." Tony said with a smile on his face. Just then, a doctor came into the room.

"Well, Agent McGee. It looks like your blood transplant went well." He said. "Blood transplant?" McGee questioned, not knowing anything about that. Who gave him blood? Tony rolled up his sleeve to reveal a Batman and Robin bandaid on his shoulder. "Looks like you and I are a perfect match." he joked. Tim smiled. "We're blood relatives now, I hope you know that." Tony whispered in his partner's ear.

The doctor looked around at everyone in the room and decided it was time to tell them all he knew. "Agent McGee will be able to leave tomorrow. But, his arm is... well, it's a bit messed up to put it simply. We're going to have you wear a soft cast and you'll need to keep your arm in a sling for a while. We can determine all of this tomorrow before you go. That's pretty much it." The doctor said before walking out of the room. Five "Thank you, Dr. Bridges." resounded as the nice man left. "Hey guys, um... can I talk to Tony alone for a second?" Tim asked. Abby leaned in so she was closer to his face. "Are you going to be ok? I would hate to break my promise." she said, pecking him on the cheek. Tim smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be ok. But don't go too far." he said. Abby smiled sweetly. "I won't. See you later, Timmy." she said as everyone but Tony shuffled out of the room. "Sup, McGoo?" Tony asked cooly. "You gave blood for me." Tim stated. Tony grinned. "Yeah? So what? You needed it, and half of your blood has already ruined my shirt, so I thought I'd return the favor." Tony said. "What about my stuff?" he asked.

Tony laughed a little and walked over to a chair in the corner of the room. "Here's your shirt." Tony said, holding up a white dress shirt that was white on one side and red on most of the other side. Tim's eyes widened. "Is that... all my blood?" he asked, feeling a little queasy. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to get the image out of his head. "No." Tony lied, sensing that McGee was about to hurl. He put the shirt back in the box and sat down next to Tim. "Y'know, Jimmy gave some too. Apparently, the three of us can give to each other. Go A positive!" Tony said. It was silent for a few awkward seconds where no one knew where to go with the conversation. "Why?" Was all Tim said next. Tony bit his lip slightly. "What do you mean, why? I wasn't going to just let you die, McGee. That's not what partners do." Tony said. Tim studied the older man for a minuet, then smiled a bit.

"You feel protective of me, right?" Tim half asked, half stated. Tony raised his eyebrows. "Wha-" he started before Tim cut him off. "You feel protective of me because I'm so much younger than you." Now Tim was clearly confident in the statement. "You're not that younger than me." Tony rationalized. Tim smiled again, and this time he meant it. "How old do you think I am?" he said with a little laugh. "You're like... forty three." Tony guessed. Tim shook his head.

"Way off. I'm thirty four, Tony." Tim informed him. Tony's jaw dropped and almost fell on the floor. "Thirty four? No, that's impossible! There's no way you're more than ten years younger than everyone else. That's crazy! There's no way..." Tony trailed off. He sped over to Tim's bed and, through all the wires and bandages, managed to hug his partner. "Listen here. If you think that I was protective of you before, you're never getting out of my sight now. You're like a kid compared to me! I was almost in high school when you were born! That's crazy! Why didn't you tell me this before?" Tony asked, sitting down in awe.

"That exact reason. I didn't want you thinking of me like some kid you need to protect at all costs. I don't want to be thought of like that." he said adamantly. Tim's eyelids were drooping and he was obviously fighting pretty hard to stay awake. Tony sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Well, McGee. You know tomorrow's Saturday and I still have those tickets to the Wizards game so..." he said, trying to insinuate something. "I thought I was going with you anyway?" Tim said with a weak smile. He sat back into his pillowed and yawned. Tony didn't blame the guy for feeling tired. Everybody was. It had been a long, stressful three days for everybody who worked at NCIS and the Navy Yard. But it had been especially long for the team. "Get some rest, kid." Tony said, pushing the morphine button. "'M not a kid anymore. Don't... don't call me that." he muttered before he was thrust into the blackness of sleep and Tony left his room.

"How is he?" Ziva asked. Tony nodded. "Good. He's sleeping right now, I think he's pretty overwhelmed about everything that's going on." he answered, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Well, that's quite understandable." Ducky said. Everyone nodded. Gibbs looked around at the team. "Go home. All of you." he practically ordered.

"What about McGee? We cannot just leave him alone, can we?" Ziva asked. Gibbs turned to face her. "It's a hospital, Ziver. He'll be fine." he reasoned. "But what if he wakes up? He'll be all alone!" Abby said. "He knows that we're just as tired as he is. McGee will understand. I doubt he'll just go back to sleep when the morphine wears off." Gibbs responded. "Well I'll stay here for a while anyway." Abby replied. "You're gonna get bored, Abbs. Plus, we've got a game to go to tomorrow and I don't want any one falling asleep." Gibbs said. Tony smiled. "So, we are going? Yes! Thanks boss." Tony said. Gibbs shrugged. "We need each other right now. A little fun will be good for everyone."

**I'm not sure about the ages... I just looked on a couple of fansites and that was what the majority had, so don't hold me to those. Anyways, drop me a review on what you thought! I love to hear what you guys think, and reviews make my day! Thank you so much for sticking with the story! It means so much to me! I've already started the final chapter, so it will be up in a week or so. Until then, Owl**


	25. Chapter 25

**I realize that it's been more than a week, this chapter took longer than I expected it to to write, but I am very satisfied with the end result! So, with out further ado, I give you the final chapter of the story we all know and love! Thanks for reading!**

At ten the next morning, Tony and Ziva picked everyone up and they all headed to the hospital to await the time when Tim would be released. After almost an hour and a half, Tim was shaved, showered, medicated, and wrapped up in a soft cast. He walked out into the lobby with a grin on his face into the welcoming arms of his team. "We're finally a family again," Tim said as he and the others walked out of the hospital. "Shotgu-" Tony started to say, only to cut himself off before he finished.

"Actually, I think McGee gets shotgun for this trip." Tony said, opening the door for his partner. Tim scoffed. "I get shotgun for the rest of the month, thank you very much." He said, getting into the car. Gibbs hopped into the driver seat, and Abby, Tony, and Ziva climbed into the back. "Where to, boss?" Tony asked as they pulled out of the hospital parking lot, Jimmy, Ducky, and Breena following them. "Lunch. There's a couple of people that are meeting us down at Monumental's." Gibbs told them. They all got puzzled looks on their faces. "Who is meeting us?" Ziva questioned. Gibbs smirked. "People." he responded.

**~~~xxx~~~**

Fifteen minuets later, the arrived at the small, bustling restaurant that was a favorite of the team's to go to after work. Gibbs led them into the back room, which seated about fifteen and was only used for parties. Once inside, the whole team was taken aback at their friends who were waiting for them.

"Dad?" three puzzled agents said at the same time. "Luca!" Abby exclaimed, running to hug her brother. The four fathers stood and greeted their kids as they slowly approached them. Admiral Patrick McGee, along with his wife and daughter approached their son with much caution, not knowing what had happened to him. "Tim! Oh my God are you ok?" Sarah asked as she hugged him on his good side. He smiled and looked at his family. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just sliced my arm open. Fractured it in a couple places. I'll be fine in less than two months, according to the doctor. Though I do have a scar." he told them. "It's... It's good to see you, Timothy. Have a seat, we can make room," The Admiral invited. Tim shook his head. "No, its fine. I'll just sit across from you with Tony, Ziva, and Abby." he said, moving to the other side of the table.

Meanwhile, Tony and Ziva were having reunions of their own. "Abba, I missed you so much!" Ziva said, falling into her father's embrace. "I missed you too, Ziva." he said as they pulled away. "I told you that you would get out of this, Ziva. You always do." He said, kissing her on the forehead. She looked at him and smiled. "I love you, Abba." Ziva said, a tear cascading down her cheek. "I love you too, angel. More than you can ever know." Eli told his daughter. After a pause in the conversation where no one knew what to say, the director of Mossad spoke up. "You look beautiful today, Ziva. More than usual." Eli commented as they both took their seats. Ziva smiled again and blushed. "Thank you."

"Well, Dad, I am surprised to see you back in D.C. again." Tony said as he hugged his father. "Oh, Junior. When Gibbs called and told me that you were all ok, I just had to accept his offer to come down for a few days. Plus, Gibbs said he would pay for lunch." Senior said. Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, dad." He said with a laugh. "Listen, dad. I really appreciate you coming. I know you're a busy guy and I'm happy that you're gonna be here for me. And everyone else, for that matter." Tony confessed. "Oh, Junior! You know that you're more important than any meeting, even if it was with the President." Senior assured his son. "It wasn't always like that." Tony said. Senior shook his head sadly. "No, you're right. It wasn't. But it will be now." Tony smiled and hugged his father again. "I love you, dad." He said. "I love you too, Anthony."

After everyone was seated, Ziva, Tony, and Gibbs across from their dads, Tim seated next to Tony and Sarah and their parents across from them, Ducky at the head, Jimmy and Breena next to each other, and Abby and Luca on the other side, the waiters all brought out some water and took their drink orders. Suddenly, Patrick stood and everyone went silent.

"I would like to propose a toast. To one Leroy Jethro Gibbs, for saving the lives of those most important to us. And to my son, Tim. I'm sorry I didn't realize who you were and what you did until it was almost too late. And I hope we can talk more than every ten years from now on." he said, raising his glass of water in the air.

"To Gibbs and Tim!" everyone said.

Tim smiled, blushed, and buried his head in his lap. he didn't mind attention, but what his dad had just said was making him feel a little overwhelmed. "Hey, 's nothing to be embarrassed about. Look up. Come on, you deserve the attention. Relish it while you have it." Sarah told him. He glanced up at her. "Really?" he asked. Sarah scoffed. "I can't believe I'm comforting my big brother. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to work the other way around." She said, nudging him in the arm. Tim sat up and Tony slapped him on back of the head. "That's from Gibbs." he said when Tim looked over at him. Tim glanced at Gibbs, who nodded and winked at him. Tim smiled back as the waiter started to pass out drinks to the fifteen of them. Another waiter began to take lunch orders behind him, which soon turned into chaos. It would only get worse when it came time to pay.

At around one thirty, when everyone was finished with their meals and no one had anything else to say, everyone began to pack up and leave. "Tim." Patrick caught his son's arm before he and Abby left. "Ouch! Jeez, dad." Tim whirled around. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know it hurt all the way up to your shoulder. Listen, son. I was wondering if you wanted to come back to Bethesda with us tonight for dinner. Sarah has a long weekend off work, and we'd love to have you come home. We miss you." he offered.

Tim looked at Abby, smiled and looked back at his dad. "I would love to dad. But I have plans. Sorry. Maybe next weekend?" Tim asked. "What are you doing tonight?" the Admiral asked. Abby linked arms with Tim and kissed him on the cheek. "Timmy is taking me on a date." Abby said with a grim. "And the team is going to a basketball game as well." Tim added in, so his father wouldn't be suspicious. It was kind of obvious at this point what was going on between the two of them, and Tony and Ziva for that matter, but no one really wanted to say anything yet. The Admiral nodded, seemingly satisfied with his son's answer. "Ok. Next weekend." he said. Tim nodded and smiled. "Yes sir."

**~~~xxx~~~**

"Tony!" Ziva screamed. Tony heaved and exasperated sigh. It was the fourth time she had called his name. "What, Ziva?" he responded, more than slightly annoyed. "Are you going to be ready anytime soon? Because if not, then we are not going tot he game." She said as she gathered her things. She and Tony had spent the afternoon and early evening together, and they had a real good time. Ziva had been in many a relationship before, but this one felt... right. Like it was meant to happen.

"I'm coming! Calm down sweetcheeks!" Tony yelled. Ziva smiled at the use of her nickname. "Well I would advise you come faster, Tony, or we will not make it downtown before the game starts. McGee and Abby are already on their way." Ziva said as he stepped out into his living room, where Ziva sat on the couch. He was wearing a white undershirt that was visible under the Wizards uniform he was sporting, along with jeans. Ziva looked at him unimpressed. "It took you a half an hour to put this on? You amaze me, Tony." Ziva rolled her eyes as he opened the door for her. Tony grinned. "What can I say? I am a pretty awesome person." He said as he locked his door and they went on their way.

When Tony and Ziva got to the arena, they started to try and locate their seats. "Are McGee and Abby here yet?" Tony asked. Ziva shrugged. "I do not know. Probably, unless they got stuck in traffic or something." She suggested. Tony nodded as he scanned the crowds. Finally, he found their section. "Here we are! Straight up ahead. Come on, Ziva." Tony said, holding her hand.

She walked with him until they arrived at their row and were greeted by Gibbs, Tim, Abby, Jimmy, and Breena. "Hey gang! What's new? Tony said as he took a seat between Tim and Ziva. Abby was next to Tim, Breena and Jimmy sat next to her. Gibbs was on the other side of Ziva. As they watched the players warm up, something darted across Tony's mind. He leaned forward. "Hey, Boss." Gibbs turned to look at the agent.

"What about rule 12?" He asked. Tim heard the question and turned away from Abby to hear the answer. He was curious as well, but Tim figured he would let Tony ask. Gibbs sighed. He knew the question would come up, and, honestly, he had no clue. What about rule 12? What was he going to do?

He looked at Tim and Tony, saw all they had been through. Gibbs saw Tim and Abby going out to lunch and talking for hours. He saw Tony and Ziva staying up late on a Saturday night, watching some romantic comedy together. He also saw Tony getting a bigger bed and actually keeping food in his house, which was just as strange as everything else. He saw the four of them go out to dinner with each other. He saw Tony and Ziva getting married, he saw himself walking Abby down the aisle, Tim waiting at the end. He saw little kids, his grandkids, running around the living room, playing tag in the backyard. Gibbs saw the possibilities, the future. And he looked at Tim and Tony, saw that they were anxiously gripping their girl's hand, waiting for a response.

"Rule 12... You mean 'Always have your partner's back'? What about it, DiNozzo?" Gibbs said with a smile. It took them a nanosecond to process it. "Thanks, Boss. Thanks a lot." Tony said. Tim nodded in agreement. "It means the world to us." He said. Gibbs nodded as a boy's excited voice reached their ears. "Dad, I found them! Look, I see Tony and Ziva!" Jared Vance said, running up the stairs to greet his favorite babysitters. "Jared! How nice to see you here! Are you excited for the game?" Ziva asked as he and Tony did their secret handshake. Jared nodded as his dad moved him along. Vance and his son sat next to Gibbs, on the end.

"Gibbs." Vance greeted the agent as the game began. "Leon." Gibbs did the same. Tony turned to Ziva.

"Ok, what about now? If we could stop time, would you?" Ziva looked around at Jimmy, who was explaining basketball for what seemed like the hundredth time, Abby, who kissed Tim on the cheek and put her head on his good shoulder, Jared and his father, who were talking stats about the game, Gibbs, who was desperately trying to remember the basics of the game, and Tony, who was staring at her like he always did. Ziva smiled.

"If we could stop time, I would stop it here forever." Tony nodded, satisfied with her answer. "Seems like the right time, don't you think? The bad guys are behind bars, we're watching a great game of basketball, Timmy McGee finally has a real girlfriend, the team's all here, and you and I are together at least. I'd take this deal over anything." Tony told her. Ziva smiled at her boyfriend.

As tip off happened and the Wizards put three points on the board, Tony raised his beer out for all to see. "To NCIS!" he shouted over the noise of the crowd. Everyone else held up their bottle, with the exception of Jared of course, who raised his Pepsi to the sky.

"To NCIS!"

**Yay! Thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed, and/or favorited this story! It means the world to me and I'm so excited that this got such a huge response! Pretty pleas drop a review on what you thought about the ending, last chapter, or the story overall because I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks a million for all your support and (hopefully!) until next time, this is Agent Owl, signing off for the last time.**


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